


Popularity Contest

by SuperNebula (FanWorks)



Category: One Piece
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Controlling girlfriend, Crushes, Developing Friendships, Fighting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Highschool AU, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Minor Original Character(s), Panic Attack, Popular Kids, Popularity, Students, football match, relationships, rugby league, teenage problems, unpopular kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-17 15:13:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 53,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5875720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanWorks/pseuds/SuperNebula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Enterprise Heights Academy - the most prestigious school in the state. So it's not at all odd that both the most popular boy in town, and the least popular end up at the same school.  </p><p>Sanji Black - An arrogant, young genius whose father happens to own one of the best 5 star restaurants, happens to be filthy rich, and incredibly popular.<br/>Roronoa Zoro - A stubborn, young athlete who was offered a sporting scholarship, and really doesn't fit in anywhere. </p><p>Only Fate could possibly bring two polar opposites together. And only two stubborn idiots could mess it up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Life's not a popularity contest, but high school certainly is

**Author's Note:**

> Okay guys I'm Australian so the schooling system is a little different. All you really have to know is that if you fail maths 'B' (smart math) you are moved to Maths 'A' (medium math) and if you fail that you are moved to pre-vocational math (dumb math). I'm just saying this because I think the majority of people on this site are american. If you're confused about anything, just ask in the comments!

This was it. This was the exam he had studied so hard for. Maths, more specifically: calculus. This was the last exam for the year, and most likely the hardest. Zoro knew he was screwed. He knew from the way he never paid attention in class and he knew from how hard he had tried to ‘study’ last night. Damn it! He was going to fail so hard! Then he’d get moved to maths ‘A’ next year for sure! Why hadn’t he paid attention all semester? 

Zoro sighed as he ran a nervous hand through his short green hair and waited for his teacher to arrive. He was standing out the front of his math classroom, a crowd of students had books in their hands; worry on their faces as they frantically crammed as many rules in their heads as they could for the impending exam. 

He had given up trying to study last night; all he had to do was stare at the complex rules and equations for about a minute before he gave up. Damn, if he put half as much effort into math as he did sword fighting or even HPE he could probably at least pass; but he never did. Why doesn’t he pay attention? 

Oh well, it was too late to do anything about it now, the teacher had opened the door and all the students began nervously filing in. He was the last one in, and the last one to take his seat, once everyone was inside, the teacher closed the door. Thus ruining any plans of escape for Zoro. 

As he waited for the test papers to be handed out, the memory of his last math lesson flooded back into his mind…

***

He drew his swords; cold, shiny steel blades glistening in the sunlight. Who would dare challenge him? Roronoa Zoro the world’s greatest swordsman! He stood in the arena proud and undefeated, and watched as his opponent’s knees shook from the mere sight of him. His perfect muscular body, shaped for this exact sport.

“ARRRGH!” His opponent screeched as he lifted his sword and charged full force. A smirk formed on his lips as he swiftly jumped out of the way of the attack. 

The attacker was stunned, clearly not aware or ready for the absolute power and agility of the great Roronoa Zoro. It was a simple defeat, Zoro ran towards the man and cleanly sliced his unguarded abdomen. Blood gushed from the wound staining his clothing and pooling on the wooden floor. The attacker fell to his knees, his eyes glazed with fear and pain. 

“HEY STUPID MARIMO BASTARD, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?”

Zoro jumped in his seat, his pencil rolling of the edge of his desk and falling on the grey carpet of the classroom. He looked around to the source of the question and he found the entire class staring at him.  
“I-I…um…what?” Zoro stammered running a hand through his short green hair.

“I asked you a question Mr Roronoa. Could you please tell me the answer to the question on the board?” Mr Smoker, the muscular white-haired maths teacher stared angrily at him. 

Zoro stared at the whiteboard, he had no idea where one question began and another ended. There were scribbles of equations with letters and brackets and strange symbols mixed together. It looked like a dog had eaten a poor kid’s math homework and then barfed it all out again before it was run over by a steam roller and then carefully thrown full force at the wall. 

Zoro looked around the room at other students for help, but they all turned away, refusing to help him with the answer. He was an outcast, he always had been. Nobody would come near him because they were either too afraid, or thought he was a loser. It was tough having green hair. Not many people ever bullied him about it though; well at least since he taught that one long nosed guy a lesson. There was one however, and his name, was Sanji Black. 

The swirly-eyebrowed blond that had yelled at him just moments before snicked and whispered something to the lanky black- haired teen next to him, who laughed and looked back at him with a wide grin. Zoro sank in his seat and felt his face grow hot.

The popular blond raised his hand confidently then spoke teasingly at Zoro “X equals 34, sir.”

“Yes, thank you Sanji. Mr Roronoa, I suggest you start paying more attention in my classes before I am forced to move you into a different class.” Mr Smoker almost growled out before turning back to the board and writing the answer down. 

Sanji Black. The most popular kid at Enterprise Heights Academy and the adopted son of a very prestigious restaurant owner, and because of that, he thinks that it’s his right to walk all over everybody. Somebody had better put that kid in his place. And soon. 

***

Oh yeah that’s right. It was that dumb swirly-eyebrowed shitty blond! He distracted him from EVERY single lesson they shared together! That bastard! Always making a fool of Zoro! He made it his duty to put him in his place. Next time he pissed Zoro off, he’d get a helping of…

“Hey!” he heard someone loudly whisper behind him, disturbing him from his internal rant. They were obviously trying to get someone’s attention, it wasn’t him though; he didn’t have any friends. He was just trying to get through high school with as little trouble as possible. He looked back down to his exam paper and sighed; he really hadn’t studied hard enough. 

“Hey! Stupid muscle head!” Zoro turned around and saw Sanji Black staring straight at him. His ocean blue eye shone in the lighting of the small classroom, his perfectly styled light hair sat over his other eye, blocking it from view. 

Zoro wished he didn’t wear his hair like that, Zoro distinctly remembered that on many occasions he had wished he could brush the hair off his face and stare into those deep blue eyes. Because, unfortunately for Zoro, Sanji was blessed with the most perfect appearance; blond hair, blue eyes, pale, thin, yet strikingly muscular, not as muscular as Zoro of course but enough body shape to have all the girls in the school waving a blowing kisses as he walked past. His personality, however, was like a train wreck. He was bad tempered, aggressive, big headed, bossy, egotistical, impulsive, charismatic, artistic, intelligent, witty… oh fuck. No matter how hard he tried, Zoro just couldn’t hate the guy, he would never admit that silent thought to anyone. 

Zoro realised he was staring directly into Sanji’s eyes and turned a deeper shade of red. “What...What do you want?” He asked trying to hide tinges of... What was that? Excitement? Nah, it must just be nerves from the exam.

“Could I borrow a pen?” the blond asked smirking and gesturing to the pencil case that sat on Zoro’s desk. 

Zoro’s stomach flipped. Sanji Black was asking him for a pen. “Uh, yeah sure.” ‘Okay Zoro act casual, he just asking for a pen’ he thought to himself, he reached into his pencil case a grabbed the first pen he could find. “Here.” He turned around and pushed the pen to Sanji who took it swiftly.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, sure anytime.” 

Zoro turned back around and stared down at his exam paper, his heart was fluttering and his stomach was pounding. Or was it his stomach was fluttering and his heart was pounding? Who gives a shit? Sanji Black just asked to borrow his pen. His pen! 

Okay that sounded weird, who cares it’s just some guy who borrowed a pen. No, not some guy, Sanji Black! Zoro’s mind was having an internal argument, one side of his brain didn’t care and the other was flipping out. There is definitely something wrong with him. 

He couldn’t focus, every time he tried to look at the calculous exam in front of him his mind wandered back to the stupid blond. Zoro wasn’t like any of the other kids at the school, in fact until recently Zoro was pretty sure he didn’t give a shit about anybody else. He was perfectly content to go through his high school life without making even one friend; and that, of course, is why Roronoa Zoro was on the bottom of the popularity food chain. 

This is how it goes:  
1\. Sanji Black – the most popular kid in school and totally out of reach of EVERYONE except the top 9  
2\. Ace – Luffy’s older brother who is probably the only reason Luffy is popular in the first place, on the football team  
3\. Franky – muscular maniac who just happens to be a weightlifter and body builder also on the football team  
4\. Seniors and other people on the dumb football team  
5\. Nami - the hottest babe in school, unfortunately, also the most snoopy of the lot, never lend her money, she charges interest  
6\. Luffy – no one has ever figured out how he even made the list, but everyone just goes with it, they only like him because his big brother is Ace  
7\. Vivi – Nami’s best friend  
8\. Usopp – no one really knows the guy, but people love his stories, and Luffy seems to like him  
9\. Chopper (got put up a grade) – genius, people just use him for homework really, poor kid, Luffy and Usopp seem to have some sort of brotherly bond with him  
10\. Teachers – all of the teachers in the whole school, they don’t care about popularity of course, but they are still lower than Sanji Black and his minions  
11\. Everybody else in the entire grade which happens to be around 300 students  
12\. Grade 11  
13\. Grade 9  
14\. Grade 8  
15\. Grade 7  
16\. Grade 6  
17\. Grade 5  
18\. Grade 4  
19\. Grade 3  
20\. Grade 2  
21\. Grade 1  
22\. Pre-school  
23\. Roronoa Zoro. 

Yep, that’s it. That is the Enterprise Heights Academy popularity food chain. The guy he’s had a crush on for years is at the top of the list, and he’s at the bottom. It had to be that way didn’t it? Zoro often wonders if there is a god up there laughing at him right now for this impossible situation. There are approximately 4000 student that attend Enterprise Heights; so by his calculations there are about three thousand nine hundred and ninety eight students between him and his boy-crush. Fuck. No fucking chance in hell. 

He looked around the room, saw people sitting at their desks heads down in concentration, pens furiously scribbling, they had nearly reached the end of their time and Zoro had spent the whole time moping. He was definitely going to fail this exam. He blames that stupid blond for this. Oh shit. If he fails this exam he’ll be moved into math ‘A’. Which means he’ll only have two classes with the shitty pascal swirl. 

The bell rings and people all about the room stand up suddenly and shuffle around. Zoro just moans and hits his head on the desk. He didn’t even answer one question. Failing the last exam for the year doesn’t really put him in a good mood for the holidays. But oh well, it’s the holidays he doesn’t have to think about school for a long time, thank god!

Zoro gets up gives the exam paper back to Mr Smoker who takes it and adds it to his pile. Zoro walks out the room and see’s that most of the students have already left. He sighs. He’ll just go home and train it off. Lifting heavy weights and doing exercise seems to always make him feel better.

“Hey, Broccoli! You forgot your pen.” Zoro stopped mid step and spun around, he saw the blond holding his pen and smirking challengingly. 

“Yeah, thanks” he mumbled.

“What was that? Speak louder moss head.” Zoro tried to reach for the pen, but it was pulled away swiftly by the smirking bully. 

“Thanks” Zoro repeated. 

“That’s better moss for brains, you really should get someone to teach you common manners, you Neanderthal.” Zoro grew angry, he had had enough of his shit. 

“Who are you calling Neanderthal? Dartboard brow!” He snatched the pen from his hands and took a step closer to glare at him. 

“Marimo!”

“Swirls!”

“PHOTOSYNTHETIC ALGAE!”

“CURLY BROW!”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ZORO?!”A blue haired girl appeared, slightly older than the two arguing. “Come on we’re going home!” she grabbed the back of Zoro’s collar and dragged him away.  
“Get off me Kuina!” he struggled and she released her death grip. 

They walked out to her car and got in without a word. Kuina started the engine and drove away, they sat in silence, Zoro looking out the window and sulking and Kuina focusing on the road. Kuina stopped at a red light and Zoro broke the silence. 

“You didn’t have to come to my class and drag me away like that!” Zoro stated, annoyed. 

“Aww, is my wittle brother embarrassed?”

“I’m not embarrassed!” Zoro exclaimed, a dash of pink spreading to his cheeks. 

Zoro has gotten used to Kuina calling him her ‘wittle brother’ they practically are, but Zoro was adopted, which makes it extremely difficult for him to fit in at home or a school. In fact, Zoro never really fit in anywhere, except with Kuina. She was the one who taught him how to fight with swords and they have been training together at the dojo that Koshiro, Kuina’s father, runs. Zoro knows that if it wasn’t for his big sister, he wouldn’t be able to survive high school; or life for that matter. And so, the last day of school; Zoro didn’t really mind his blue haird- bossy sibling dragging him home. He couldn’t wait to go home and train off the shitty blond and the shitty test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Sanji 
> 
> School's Out!  
> Let's PARTY


	2. The Popular Life

Sanji rolled out of bed to the sound of his alarm clock. It was the last day of school for the year. He couldn’t wait to get it over with, but somehow he was reluctant. He moaned; he knew that all his friends would force him to go to their ‘School’s out’ party. To be honest, Sanji hated parties. He hated watching people get drunk and throw up; he hated the smell of sweat and booze and he hated that drunk girls would always hit on him and throw themselves all over stupid guys that don’t give a shit about them. Sanji only really went to parties because his friends were going, and to be completely honest; he was ‘friends’ with everyone. 

Sanji stood up and walked out of his perfectly clean room (he always kept it that way just in case he brought a girl home) and into the full, stainless steel, spotless kitchen. Which he and his father liked to keep clean; because a clean kitchen is a safe kitchen. If Sanji was going to be completely honest with himself here, he would have to admit that he is a bit of a clean freak; when compared to other boys of his age that is. But when it’s just him and his dad (and they are rarely ever home) it’s quite easy to keep the place tidy. 

Like always, Zeff was at work, and usually, Sanji would be too; but Zeff gave Sanji the week off to study for his exams. Today was the last exam and he was pretty sure he would ace it. 

He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the breakfast he made for himself yesterday, he thought about the exam and the rules he needed to know and what he needed and he made a list in his head:  
1\. Pens   
2\. Paper   
3\. Clean Uniform   
4\. Intelligence   
5\. Nice hair  
Yep. One final exam and he was finished for the year. As he was heating his pancakes in the microwave he went back to his room and pulled out a clean uniform from his wardrobe. 

The Enterprise Heights Academy uniform was very elaborate, which was one of the reasons Sanji wanted to go to the school in the first place. 

The boys wear a black suit with a white undershirt and a red tie. The girls wear a short red skirt with a black fitted shirt and a black blazer. Girls wear red ties too, but all the girls tie them up into bows.   
The jacket has the school logo on the right side, which is a black with a red shield with the inscription EHA and the motto ‘Scientia Sit Potentia’ underneath. And in winter students wear a black trench coat. 

Once he put on his uniform he corrected his tie and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess. It looked like he had fallen asleep in an electric chair. Damn. He really hated that he rolled around in his sleep. Once he had even rolled off his bed and got his hair stuck in a floor fan. It wasn’t fun, but the girl he was with thought it was hilarious. He needed to fix his hair, right now. This second. But first… Food. 

He went back to the kitchen and pulled the pancakes out of the microwave and drizzled them with maple syrup and made himself a coffee. Of course, like always, sugar and caffeine are the staple foods on a ‘before-exam’ diet. 

After Sanji had eaten he went to the bathroom and fixed his hair. A multitude of hair gel and hairspray was used to get the fucking frizzy bits to stay the fuck down. Ahem. Anyway, by this time Sanji realised it was 8:00 am and his exam started in an hour and if he left now he would only get to school 15 minutes early!   
Sanji rushed through his bedroom and frantically grabbed pens and paper and stuffed them into his bag. He swiftly shot out the door and into the front yard. The day was nice, not too hot, and not too cold; perfect conditions for an exam or anything for that matter. Well except skiing, and ice skating and snowboarding; but that’s not the point. The point is…

“Where the hell is the school now?! I bet it moved again!”   
Sanji heard a shout and his train of thought ended. He quickly hid behind the bushes next to the footpath in his neighbour’s yard. Sanji wanted to scare the shit out of this stupid green haired guy that went to his school. He always got lost, he always wandered through the streets by himself and turned up late to every class. He got lost at school too; in fact, he is probably the student who can get lost at Enterprise Heights, there are signs and maps everywhere. Sometimes, Sanji likes to follow the directionless idiot and make fun of him by not telling him where to go, but just following his stupid sense of direction. It’s so fun to piss him off. Zoro continued walking in the wrong direction until Sanji thought it probably wasn’t the best for him to fail his last exam because he got lost…Again. 

“Hey! Hulk head! School’s this way!” Sanji shouted motioning to the opposite direction. 

“What?! I knew that!” Zoro marched in the direction Sanji pointed and turned down a random street. 

“Hey, you’re going the wrong way again!” Sanji chased after the dumb vegetable and got his attention. “Oi! Idiot, I said school is that way.” Sanji pointed to the direction. “Why the hell did you turn down some random street?”

“What? I didn’t. You pointed that way!” Zoro replied angrily.   
“Whatever moron, I’m going to school now so you can either follow me or get lost,” Sanji stated walking away.   
“Asshole.” Zoro muttered under his breath, but he followed Sanji anyway. 

Sanji continued walking, happily humming to himself and Zoro followed along five paces behind, in disgrace; because how could he let this asshole show him up. 

People always thought of Sanji as a popular jerk. He was arrogant, ego-centred, selfish, confident, boisterous, hot and intelligent. And that’s why everyone hated and loved him at the same time. But Sanji himself, was none of those things, well he was hot, but he really wasn’t arrogant or selfish at all. That’s just the way other people view him, unpopular people, people who don’t know him. And if Sanji was being really honest; no one really knew him. People knew his name, where he worked, and that he liked girls (a lot) but no one has ever bothered to ask, or even wonder about anything else about him. 

While Sanji was contemplating his futile high school career, Zoro had disappeared. Sanji came out of his trance and realised that he couldn’t hear footsteps anymore. He turned around and sure enough; Zoro was gone. Sanji giggled to himself and shook his head. 

“What an idiot.” He wondered if he should look for the marimo bastard or if he should just leave him. He was helping him after all, it was his fault he couldn’t follow behind. It was 8:30, and he really didn’t have time to go back and look for him, so he continued walking. 

Sanji took about four steps before his conscious weighed on him. He couldn’t let him fail the last exam for the year, even if he was a colossal moron. Sanji turned around and started jogging back in the direction he came. After five minutes he still didn’t see any sign of the green haired oaf. 

After another few minutes, Sanji’s search was seeming all the more futile and he was running very late. He needed to make a choice; fail the exam looking for some dumb bastard, or abandon the dumb bastard and ace the exam. Screw it, there’s no use both of them failing. Sanji turned around again and ran straight to school. 

He ran through crowds of people waiting for class to start and made a B-line to the math block. When he arrived he was exhausted, sweaty and out of breath. And he knew his hair was a mess. 

“Hey! There you are! We were wondering where you were, you’re usually never late.” A beautiful blue haired girl commented.   
“Oh, my sweet Vivi! Thank you ever so much for worrying! But you need not concern yourself any longer!” Sanji swooned, and a bunch of girls behind him giggled. Sanji turned around “And who might you be, my dazzling beauties?” The girls blushed and went silent, before screaming happily and running away. 

“Geeze, your ‘fans’ seem to be in higher spirits today. I don’t like it.” The taller orange haired girl pointed out, crossing her arms and looking annoyed. 

“Oh-Nami, my sweet! Is that a hint of jealousy I hear in your voice?”   
“NO!” Her hand came crashing down on his head, and Sanji could already feel a lump forming. 

“SAAAAANNNNJJIII!” An incredibly energetic and childish boy screeched. “Sanji! You’re here! Did you bring food for me??” 

“No Luffy, I didn’t bring food for you; will you stop asking.” 

“AWWWW” The black haired boy bounced around before grabbing Sanji and hanging off his neck. 

“No! Get off!” Sanji pushed him away. “Why are you even here? You’re not in this class.” 

“Oh- I came to tell you about the party.”

“Oh yeah. The end of year giant party you have.” 

“Yeah! This year it’s going to be super huge!!” Luffy described, holding out his arms as far as he could. “It’s at my place and it starts at 6!” Luffy brought his voice down and leant closer to Sanji “and there’ll be lots of alcohol and food, so don’t bring anything, alright?” 

“Yeah, okay Luffy, I’ll think about it.” 

“No! You’re coming! I’ll see you at 6!” Luffy shouted as he ran back to his class for his exam. 

Luffy had always had the ability to make people do what he wanted. Whatever Luffy wanted, happened. Once the ecstatic kid had invited a couple of his favourite teachers to one of his parties, and sure enough, they showed up. Of course it took a lot of convincing from Luffy; more like begging really. But those teacher’s ended up getting smashed and having the time of their lives. Fortunately for Luffy; they didn’t remember any of it. 

It was at this point Sanji noticed a distinctive mop of green; it was that directionless idiot. He was in half a mind to yell at the bastard for getting lost and making him go back and look for him. But just as he was walking over to the marimo Mr Smoker opened the door and everyone funnelled in. 

Sanji sat in his usual seat and waited for the teacher to hand out the exam paper. He watched everyone in the room closely and noted how everyone looked like they were ion varying levels of panic; ranging from himself – completely calm - to the green haired muscle head in front of him – completely panicking. Sanji couldn’t see the idiot’s face, but he knew how stressed he looked – he was a pale, sweaty mess; he looked a little like a zombie. The exam had started and everyone began writing, except Zoro, he seemed like he was in some sort of trance. 

Sanji couldn’t just leave him there like that. So he made an attempt to calm him down; because Sanji wasn’t always a selfish jerk, he could be nice to people too. Occasionally. 

“Hey!” Sanji whispered to the thick wall of muscle, but he completely ignored it. 

“Hey! Stupid muscle head!” Sanji whispered louder and this time, Zoro turned around and stared straight at him. The stare lasted slightly longer than usual but it was a strangely comfortable stare. 

“What...What do you want?” He finally replied. 

“Could I borrow a pen?” Sanji already had a pen. He already had everything he needed to ace this exam, but he needed the dumb-head to realise that the exam had started. 

“Uh, yeah sure.” Zoro pulled out a pen and handed it to Sanji “Here.” 

“Thanks.” 

“Yeah, sure anytime.” Zoro turned around and looked back down to his exam but he didn’t seem as pale as before, in fact, what Sanji could see of his ears and neck, he looked unusually red. 

Sanji decided it was time to do his own work, so he began his calculus exam. It wasn’t particularly hard, he just needed to remember the rules, which he was great at. So he finished the exam in about half an hour. He went back over his answers just to make sure he didn’t miss anything, and sure enough, he was done. However, there was still about 30 minutes left on the clock so he just decided to people watch.

He loved people watching, the expressions people have when they don’t know they’re being watched are intriguing. He looked around the room for anomalous behaviour and his eyes instantly fell upon the green guy (Sanji was seriously running out of clever things to call him). He was just sitting there, not writing, not doing anything. Sanji wondered if he was trying to fail on purpose. Was this guy stupid or something? 

Sanji looked over his shoulder expertly and down at his exam paper; it was blank, completely empty, this stupid guy had been sitting here for 45 minutes and not answered one single question. Whatever, it wasn’t his problem. 

Sanji had known the guy since grade 7 when he first moved here. And he had always known him as a directionless moron. At first, he thought he got lost because he was new, but even when he had been at the school for a long time he kept getting lost, and Sanji had no idea why the hell he can be that dumb. It all began when Sanji had first met the moss head...

***

“I’m not sure if this is allowed.” A young blond haired girl hesitantly whimpered. 

“Oh, come on! It’ll be fine.” Sanji replied pulling the girl along by the hand. “I’ve done this heaps of times before.” 

“What? Skipped school to go make out with some girl you just met?” the girl pulled back on his hand angrily.

“No. I meant just skipped school. Now, come on.” Sanji lead her down a corridor and to a closed broom closet.

“What? A closet?”

“Yeah. No one ever comes in here, and they never lock it. I come in here all the time to smoke.” Sanji opened the door and gestured the girl inside, she stepped in hesitantly and he followed, closing the door behind him. 

It smelt of smoke and sweat, a familiar combination; practically the whole school had that smell. The closet itself was quite roomy for a broom closet, and there was absolutely nothing in it. There was a tiny window on the wall opposing the door but it was so small and high up that the only thing it did was light up the place. 

“So, Mr Black, are you ready?” the mysterious girl whispered seductively stepping closer to Sanji. 

“Ready for wha-” the girl stepped in closer to Sanji and pressed her lips to his; it was a rough unsatisfying kiss. The girl wrapped her arms around him and shoved her tongue down his throat; Sanji felt trapped. It wasn’t what he had expected at all. And suddenly, Sanji’s world came crashing down. He had expected so much, he always admired the body and soul of every woman, every curve, every single thing about them. He had wanted this so badly; to kiss them, to love them, with all his heart. But it was never what it seemed, to kiss, it was such a symbolic moment in movies and stories, but it just seemed so… Ordinary. In fact, Sanji felt absolutely nothing. Just warm wet skin touching his and someone else’s saliva pooling in his mouth. Actually the more he thought about it, the more disgusting it became. He needed to get out of there: fast. 

Luckily for Sanji, by a twist of fate, at that precise moment, a lost new kid stumbled upon the door and opened it. The blond haired girl heard the noise of the door and pulled away from Sanji. 

“Oh my god, Sanji you said no one would come in here!” She whispered furiously. 

“No one ever does my dear.” Sanji turned his attention to the new kid. “Who the hell do you think you?! You asshole!” Sanji yelled, storming out of the closet. And that’s when he saw him. The new boy. He was about Sanji’s height, but double his weight with pure muscle; he had a square jaw and three gold earrings hung from his right ear, and finally he had short, pale green hair. His overall expression was not pleasant, and his disposition screamed ‘don’t fuck with me’. But of course, Sanji couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing at how completely pissed this guy looked, but the green hair just made him look like he spilt chemicals on it, trying to reach a really high shelf. 

“What are you laughing at, Punk?!” Zoro growled deeply. But it just made Sanji laugh even harder, he doubled over and couldn’t hold himself up, he had to grab the wall to support himself, he was laughing so hard that he started to cry. The girl sensed the furious energy coming from the new boy and fled down the corridor without saying a word. Sanji finally stopped laughing enough to answer the green haired boy. 

“I’m sorry, I was just laughing at your hair,” Zoro growled like an animal. 

“What did you say, curly brow?!” Zoro snarled at Sanji noticing his strange swirls above his eyes. Sanji went dead silent and glared at Zoro with an animalistic scowl. 

“What did you call me, moss head?!” He took a step closer to Zoro, but Zoro wasn’t going to back down. 

“DARTBOARD-BROW!” 

“HOW DARE YOU!” Sanji lifted his right leg and swung a kick at Zoro but he expertly dodged it throwing a right hook to Sanji’s head. Sanji wasn’t expecting a dodge or return so Zoro hit him square in the jaw with full force. Sanji was thrown to the side but caught his balance and jumped onto his hands to kick Zoro in the ribs full force. Zoro was pushed against the wall and barely dodged another attack from Sanji. Zoro went for his legs and tried to sweep him off his feet, but Sanji jumped at the last second. 

“THAT’S ENOUGH!!!” Mr Crocodile shouted, grabbing both boys and dragging them by the collar. The PE teacher walked them down the corridor and straight to the front of the school. To the principal’s office. 

*** 

The School bell rang and shook Sanji out of his thoughts. Everyone was rushing around excitedly for the end of the school year, but all Sanji felt was dread. Holidays meant that he would have to work at his father’s restaurant more, get shouted at more and have no free time to visit friends. But he didn’t really care. He walked to Mr smoker and handed him his exam paper and walked out of the room. He hadn’t forgotten the marimo’s pen and waited for him to exit the classroom before calling out. 

“Hey, Broccoli! You forgot your pen.” Sanji smirked, he always found it fun hating on the guy, because he was the only one in school that would stand up to him. 

“Yeah, thanks” 

“What was that? Speak louder moss head.” Sanji pulled the pen away from Zoro’s reaching hand.

“Thanks” Zoro repeated.

“That’s better moss for brains, you really should get someone to teach you common manners, you Neanderthal.” Sanji knew he had done it, this time, the marimo grew angry and scowled at him. 

“Who are you calling Neanderthal? Dartboard brow!” He snatched the pen from his hands and took a step closer to glare at him.

“Marimo!”

“Swirls!”

“PHOTOSYNTHETIC ALGAE!”

“CURLY BROW!”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ZORO?!” A mysterious blue haired girl grabbed Zoro by the collar and dragged him away. Damn. He always liked picking fights with the marimo. In a way, it was the only way he could fight a real person. Zeff never lets him fight at a club so he used to just ask people to fight with him, but eventually, he became too strong for anyone in the school. Until the green guy. Sanji smirked to himself; he was so glad he could pick fights with him, even if he’s an asshole. 

“SAAANNJII!!” Luffy bounded over almost knocking Sanji off his feet. “Come to my party! Please Please! Please!” The boy pleaded. 

“Oh alright.” 

“YAYYY!” He shouted bounding away. 

Sanji sighed, he really wanted to spend the evening by himself, but that was never going to happen with Luffy around. Sanji began to wonder if he was cut out for his life of popularity, but, even if he wasn’t, he figured it wouldn’t last much longer. Only 2 years to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next:  
> Holidays!!!  
> Let's go to a restaurant!   
> How do you know where I live?


	3. Party Season

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Just to let you know, this is set in Australia. So yeah...It's summer at Christmas.

Sanji arrived to the party early; it was always good manners, but there were already lots of people filling up the house and the backyard. He heard loud music from inside and lots of cheering and screaming; and he remembered how much he hated parties; but he wasn’t here for himself; he was here for his friends, not that his friends needed his help to get completely wasted. 

He gathered up all of his dignity and marched into the double story house. Everything was a shock to his senses, the loud music, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes, the bright flashing lights, the crowd of people he had to shove to move anywhere. He needed to smoke, so he made a B line to the slightly less crowded backyard. He found an empty spot on the grass by the bonfire that was set up and lit himself a cigarette.   
“Hey, Sanji Bro! You made it!” A giant blue haired footballer came over to him and handed him a beer. Sanji gladly accepted. 

“Yeah! Have you seen Luffy around?” 

“No Man, but he’s probably somewhere near the food.” 

“Yeah, thanks.” Sanji rolled his eyes; Luffy was always near food of some sort. He always went straight to Luffy when he arrived at his parties; for one he was his friend, and two, it was always polite to thank the host for inviting him. Even though he was always invited. 

As Sanji weaved through the crowds of sweaty, horny, teenagers he came further to the conclusion that he hated parties and he had to leave soon. He would find Luffy, say hello, then leave. Making the old ‘He had work tomorrow’ excuse; which was usually true. He met up with Usopp who gave him another drink and continued his search for the food (and Luffy). 

“Hey! Omg! It’s you! Hey?”

“Huh?” Sanji turned around to face the person who had just tapped him on the back. It was a beautiful young lady with black hair, she was quite short and had a fringe that just covered her eyebrows. She was adorable, but had to be younger than his grade because he’s never seen her before.

“Hello, my dear” Sanji spoke softly turning and putting his full attention on her; she smiled and looked down at her shoes with a pink tinge to her cheeks. Sanji noticed the embarrassment and put his hand on her chin and lifted her head up to look at him. “There is no need for that, my darling, your smile is captivating.” Sanji flirted with her; she giggled. “What do you require of me?” She blushed deeper, and Sanji noticed quite a crowd of younger grade girls circling them. 

“Well, um… I was just-” She stuttered nervously. “I was just wondering, you know- if maybe, you’d like to go out with me sometime?” There was a sharp gasp from the audience and the girl ripped her head out of Sanji’s hand to look at the floor. For a split second everything stopped, the only sound was the music blaring. Everyone was staring at this poor girl until someone in the audience shouted out.

“You stupid girl! Nobody would want you! Leave Sanji alone!” The girl looked up with a face of horror trying to find the source of the sound. And that’s when everyone started joining in.   
“You Bitch!”

“Leave him alone!” 

“He doesn’t want a whore like you!”

“YOU UGLY BRAT!” at this point the anger of the mob escalated to point when someone threw an empty beer can. Then everyone was pegging things, beer bottles, shoes, cans, cups. 

The girl was terrified, and so was Sanji. The small black haired girl took off towards the front and people continued to throw things until she was in the house. Sanji went after her. He needed to apologise, he needed to say anything to that poor girl! He pushed and shoved and kicked his way through the crowd and into the house. But he couldn’t see her, he stopped and looked around for her but it was of no use. He couldn’t see her, he wanted to call her name, but he didn’t even know it. 

He stood in the middle of the crowed hallway horrified, staring at the front door, into the darkness of the night, where somewhere out there, there was a girl, all alone and crying, terrified, on the first day of the holidays. And everyone else went about on their own, drinking, partying. And they don’t even know that they just ruined someone’s life; forever. No one gets over something like that. And that’s when he remembered; he really hated parties. No. He really hated people. 

He no longer cared about the party, or finding Luffy, and simply went straight home. Tomorrow, no one will remember what they did to that girl, but she will, she’ll never be able to forget it; and neither will he. 

*** 

Sanji’s head pounded. It felt like he had been hit by a train. Every single noise uttered intensified the raging throbs in his brain. He slowly lifted his arm to his alarm clock and pressed snooze; without opening his eyes. He slowly rolled over to face the wall. 

He was nauseated, his stomach felt like it was a pirate on the high seas. As he breathed he could feel the vomit rise and fall in his throat. It was disgusting. He laid there for as long as possible until the door suddenly swung open and Zeff barged in. 

“Time to get up you little eggplant! You promised you’d work on the morning shift this morning!” 

“UGGHH” Sanji groaned as he lifted his sheet up over his head. Zeff grew impatient. 

“I said it’s time to get up!” he yelled and brought his leg crashing down on Sanji’s head. 

“OWW” Sanji shouted shooting up and cradling his poor, throbbing head. He opened his eyes and the light flooded in and blinded him. “AHHh It’s too bright” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you HAD A HANGOVER!” Zeff drew the curtains open and raised his voice. 

“UGGH! Go away!” Sanji honestly felt like death. His head pounded, his eyes stung, his stomach kept threatening to release its contents and he had an awful dream about that black haired girl. He felt so guilty for her. It was his fault that everyone laughed and threw things at her. Sanji swore that on the first day back at school he would apologise and set everything straight. 

“Come on, we need to leave soon.” Zeff said as he walked out of his son’s room and closed the door behind him. 

Sanji reluctantly, and very slowly opened his eyes and accustomed them to the light, he got out of bed and cringed as he pulled on his tight suit. He promised his dad that he would be on waiting staff today; because one of the waiters had gotten sick. Sanji regretted going to the party last night. He hadn’t had much to drink there, but as soon as he had come home he had needed one; and had probably had a bit too many, as everything after getting home from the party was a bit of a blur. 

The morning went by rather slowly; people came, they ordered, he served them, they ate, they paid, and they left. The build up to lunch was rather hectic though, as more and more people were coming and going and more waiters were put on. 

Lunch time was when it really started to get busy. People were running about the kitchen, shouting instructions; waiters were smiling politely but hectically taking notes and rushing. The entire restaurant had an air of haste. Sanji was posted on the door for most of the time, welcoming people and showing them to their tables. 

It was about 1 pm, Sanji felt like crap and just wanted the day to end; that’s when he looked up and recognised a familiar tuft of green. He grinned maliciously. 

“Hello, Welcome to the Baratie.” He looked directly at the Marimo, who just stared back in shock. Sanji smiled widely; this was probably the best thing to happen all day. Sanji directed his attention to the rest of his party. There was a smiling middle aged man with round glasses and the cute blue haired girl that dragged Zoro away the day before. Sanji reached and grabbed her hand, leaned down and placed his lips gently on her skin. “You are quite a beautiful young lady, it’s such a shame you have to be associated with this knuckle-head.” Sanji jived smirking at the marimo. 

“Hey!” Zoro defended; but Sanji ignored him. 

“Table for three, my dear, right this way” He motioned for her to follow as he walked to a table. He pulled out a chair and motioned for Kuina to sit, she did so and Sanji pushed the chair in for her. “Here is your menu, my dear.” He handed out all three menus and took a step back. “Would you like anything to drink?” 

“Um, yes please, I’ll have water.” The man smiled. 

“For you my dear?” 

“I think I’ll have a lemonade.”

“Ah- sweet, just like you.” Sanji beamed. Zoro scowled. 

“And what do you want, lettuce?” 

“I want you to leave me alone.” Sanji laughed.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, you see, I work here, and I’m just doing my job.” 

“Then I have a complaint. Go get the manager.” Zoro grinned cheekily. 

“You wouldn’t dare.” Sanji glared

“You wanna bet?” They glared at each other for a few seconds before Sanji couldn’t take it any longer. He swiftly turned and walked away to get the drinks. 

When he returned he was carrying a tray with a jug of water and a glass of lemonade. He placed the lemonade down in front of the sweet girl and poured a glass of water for the man. He then walked right up behind Zoro and began pouring water into his glass. Once the glass was half full he dropped the pitcher and it spilt right onto Zoro’s lap. He stood up angrily. 

“You did that on purpose! You stupid swirly brow!” 

“Don’t call me that! Granny Smith!” Zoro growled and pushed Sanji backwards. Sanji retaliated by whipping him across the face with his tea towel. Zoro stumbled backwards and could feel large welt where he was hit. 

Zoro lunged at him and was dodged completely; expecting this, Zoro turned swiftly and took Sanji by surprise, landing a hard punch to his kidney. Sanji doubled over in shock and started coughing; but was able to swing his leg to clip Zoro on the shin. Zoro grabbed Sanji while he was coughing and shoved him to the floor, but not before Sanji grabbed his shirt and dragged him down with him. 

At this point the entire restaurant was silently staring at them. Even the waiters were shocked and simply stood there. One waiter went into the kitchen and got Zeff. He barged through the swinging doors and into the restaurant and marched straight over to the two teens wrestling on the floor. 

“What do you think you’re doing!?” Zeff Shouted. He pulled up Sanji by his collar and practically threw him off Zoro. “You have no right to insult, or fight my customers! Get out!” Zeff Yelled at Sanji. Sanji was embarrassed as hell. Everyone was watching him. He said nothing, but just walked toward the door and left without saying a word. “You too! Brussel sprout!” Zeff said pointing to Zoro. “There will be no fighting in my restaurant.” 

“But…” 

“No excuses! Get out!” Zoro looked to Koshiro who only nodded. He slowly and reluctantly walked out the door behind Sanji. 

Outside the restaurant it was hot, well more like moderate temperature; but compared to other parts of the world, it was hot. Christmas break was always the hottest, and time seemed to flow so slowly in the scorching heat; Sanji was just thankful that his house was air-conditioned. 

Sanji lit up a cigarette, he needed one after getting kicked out of work by his own father. Man that was harsh. He breathed the smoke into his lungs and let it calm him. Zoro was just standing there, arms folded over his chest, stupid scowl on his face. He needed to lighten up, so Sanji helped him. By blowing a breath full of smoke right into his face. Zoro coughed and wheezed, his lungs burnt and he hated the smell of smoke. 

“What the hell?!” Zoro shouted between coughs.

“You need to lighten up.” Sanji stated matter-of-factly. 

Zoro growled, he really hated that swirly punk ass jerk. And he was always so damn calm! Like nothing in the world could ever faze him. He was the complete opposite of Zoro in every way. And that is why he’s had such a huge crush on the guy for ages. Opposites attract, and the guy was just so damn attractive in an annoying sort of way. Sometimes he really hated the smartass, he would get on his nerves so much. Then they would fight and he loved it. But it got so tiring, He couldn’t go a whole week without bumping into the shitty blond! He couldn’t even enjoy a nice lunch out with his family without the long-legged giraffe showing up and ruining it. He sighed, there was no point waiting for his family they would be a while. Zoro just started walking away.

“Hey? Where are you going?” Sanji jogs after him and catches up. 

“Where do you think, dartboard? I’m going home.” Sanji laughed and Zoro stopped walking, he made an expression like ‘what are you laughing at asshole?’

“Your house is the other way loser.” Sanji smirked. 

“Shut up.” Zoro growled at Sanji turning around and walking in the other direction. “How do you know where I live anyway?” 

“We live like two streets away from each other. We walk the same way to school.” 

“Tch, Whatever.” Zoro thought about it, and came to the conclusion that their close proximity must be the reason why they kept running into each other. There’s no way to ever get rid of this guy! Zoro half hated it and loved it at the same time. He loved that he could see more of his crush, but he hated that he will always be reminded of how far out of his reach he was. He moaned.

“What’s the matter?” Sanji questioned, he always had a hard time reading the marimo, he always either looked angry or expressionless. The stupid green idiot could have a huge crush on him, and he would never know. Pfft, ridiculous! 

“Nothing.” Zoro replied flatly. 

“Well this is boring.” Sanji mused out loud.

“Well I’m sorry that you find my company so dull.” Zoro said sarcastically, but it doesn’t come out quite right. Sanji was able to pick up a slight hint of- anger - jealousy? But why he be annoyed? Did Sanji just insult him? He didn’t mean to. 

“No, I just mean, it’s a long walk we should talk about something.”

“We don’t talk, we argue, then we try to kill each other.” Zoro remarked, lacking emotion of any kind. 

“Well… We’ll just have to find something we agree on.” Sanji pondered for a second. “What’s your favourite colour?”

“What? That is so stupid.”

“Oh- come on! Don’t be boring!” It was very hard for Zoro to refuse. 

“Blue.”

“Blue? Your favourite colour is blue?” 

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” Zoro challenged. 

“Well it’s just…” Sanji looked at Zoro’s hair “I thought it would be green.” Zoro growled. 

“You think, just because my hair is green that it’s my favourite colour?” Zoro huffed “Is your favourite colour blond?”  
“No”

“Exactly.” 

“It’s green.” 

“What?” Zoro stopped walking for a second. His heart began to beat faster. 

“My favourite colour is green.” Zoro felt his chest tighten. His favourite colour is the same colour as his hair! Act cool. Zoro turned around again and kept walking. He’s such a pathetic loser; getting excited because his crush’s favourite colour is green, who cares. They continued to walk for some time before Sanji finally spoke again. “So, why do you like blue?” 

“What- I don’t know, I just do.” Sanji sighed. They’d never really had a conversation before, I guess it was futile. Some people just don’t get along. But at the moment Sanji was ready to give up; Zoro decided to change the subject to something more interesting. “You’re not like all the other popular kids.”

“What does that mean?” Sanji inquired curiously. 

“Most of them wouldn’t be seen dead talking to a low life like me.” 

“Why are you a low life?” Zoro looked at him shocked.

“Because I’m about the least popular kid in school.” 

“Are you?” 

“This is what I mean. You’re not like the rest of them.” 

“People are people. I know that I’m popular and it’s fun being liked, but that doesn’t make anyone else less than me.” Sanji Stated robotically. 

“Other people don’t see it that way.” 

“No they don’t.” Sanji feels ashamed and remembers the girl from last night. “Hey do you know a little black haired girl from a younger grade?” 

“What? No. I don’t really know anyone.” 

“Don’t you have friends?” to Zoro the pitch of Sanji’s voice sounded mocking, like he already knew the answer and was teasing him. But that wasn’t the way it was intended to sound. Sanji was generally concerned that the strange green haired boy was another victim of cruel bullying. Just like the poor girl. But then, Zoro was much stronger, and he would probably beat up anyone who called him names. 

“Of course I do!” Zoro snapped defensively. “But none of them go to the same school as me.” He added quickly. Sanji stopped; they had reached the street where Zoro lived. 

“Well, we can walk to school together after the holidays if you like. So you don’t get lost that is.” Sanji smiled. Zoro’s chest clenched and his stomach tightened. 

“Yeah, I think that’ll be good.” Sanji laughed.

“So you won’t be late to class so much!” Zoro frowned. 

“I don’t get lost.”

“Sure you don’t. Anyway, I’m going home now, see you round sometime!” Sanji walked away. 

Zoro watched him walk down the street and turn down another. He stood there for what must have been five minutes as his brain kept whirring and his stomach flittered around. That was the first actual conversation that he had ever had with the blond. And he realised; he might not be the jerk he thought he was; the real Sanji had exceeded his expectations entirely.


	4. Drowning on the Inside

The rest of the holidays went by in a flash; the summer heat continued to draw on. Christmas was celebrated by putting up a tree and having turkey with family. Zoro saw Sanji at the shopping mall on Christmas Eve buying presents for god knows who, probably all of his friends. Because his family could afford things like that. Zoro had to help Koshiro in the dojo almost every day, and he wasn’t even paid minimum wage. Zoro’s scholarship to Enterprise Heights is probably the only reason he hasn’t dropped out of school to help Koshiro with the bills.

The first day back at school was the worst. Zoro woke to the sound of the radio hosts

**“Good Morning to everyone just waking up it is a beautiful summer’s day!”**

**“Indeed it is, Jeff, and the first day back at school for the year!”**

Zoro was tired, and pissed. He hit his alarm with his fist and rolled over in bed. At that moment Kuina burst through the door wearing her red and black uniform with her senior blazer; the seniors get their names printed on the back of their blazers when they’re in their final year.

“Come on Zoro time to get up!” She called grabbing a clean uniform from the wardrobe and throwing it a Zoro’s face.

“I don’t wanna.”

“Zoro, You have to it’s the first day of year 11! Only two more years until you graduate!” Kuina opened the curtains and let the light flow across Zoro’s single bed. Zoro sat up.

“I failed.” Zoro said matter-of-factly.

“You failed what?”

“Math… I’m going to be moved down to dumb math.”

“Zoro, you know if you don’t pass all your subjects they’ll take your scholarship away from you. We can’t afford that.”

Zoro sighed and looked down guiltily “I know.”

“You have to try harder this year Zoro, I’ll help you with math as much as I can but you have to listen more in class.” Kuina said honestly.

The only reason Zoro and Kuina were both able to go to such prestigious school, was because of scholarship money. Kuina is a genius, well she’s just really good at school and she aces everything she does; and she’s a brilliant fighter. Zoro’s just a brilliant fighter, and very athletic; he aces every sport he tries and that’s how he got in. He’s not too great a math though, but he doesn’t have to be, all he needs is a passing grade.

Kuina left the room for Zoro to get dressed and he threw on his uniform sloppily. He rushed out of his room and to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. Zoro hated cereal. It was gross; it was literally just a bowl of soggy mush, if he could have his way he wouldn’t eat breakfast at all, but he ate it anyway. Kuina always made him eat breakfast.  ‘It’s the most important meal of the day’ she would always say.

By this time Koshiro was already at the Dojo setting up for early classes. Koshiro took classes of all ages, Zoro would mainly help with the younger kids on the weekends.

“Time to go” Called his older, blue haired sister.  They usually walked to school together, she always had to make sure he wouldn’t get lost, which seems impossible because they’ve walked the exact same way since grade 7. But sure enough he _still_ got lost, Kuina had even considered putting a collar on him and dragging him by a leash so he wouldn’t wander off.

They walked out the door and down the driveway, where there was a familiar blond idiot smiling brightly at them.

“Hello, my beauty, how are you today?” Sanji bowed to Kuina.

Zoro growled “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t you remember mossy? We agreed we would walk to school together so you don’t get lost.” Sanji smirked, lifting a cigarette up to his lips and lighting it.

“I don’t get lost!”

“Yes you do” Kuina and Sanji said at the same time.

“Well, I’m gonna leave you two losers to walk to school by yourselves.” Kuina headed off in the direction of the school and Sanji’s eyes followed after her. Zoro noticed where Sanji was looking and punched him in the jaw.

Sanji stumbled backwards “ouch! What the hell was that for?”

“Stop staring at my sister’s ass, jerk!”

“What? I wasn’t! Dumb Marimo!” Sanji actually wasn’t staring at Kuina’s ass, he was actually looking at the name on the back of her blazer ‘Kuina’; Sanji never knew the blue haired girl’s name until now.

“Tch whatever! Don’t flirt with my sister!” Zoro began walking away, as Sanji stood and watched him.

“Ahem. School is the other way. Really, how do you not know this? You literally just watched your sister walk the other way.”

“Shut up!” Zoro turned red, he knew his direction was bad, in fact, he knew his sense of direction was non-existent, and it really pissed him off! But no matter how hard he tried he just got lost. Even with a map, even with google maps on his phone, he still got lost. He has come to terms with the fact that he just doesn’t know his way, ever.

They walked in silence for some time, until Sanji couldn’t take it anymore. “I spy with my little eye something beginning with M” Sanji cooed.

“Really? We’re going to play I spy? What are we, twelve?” Zoro replied flatly.

“Just play the game, grasshopper!”

Zoro sighed, “Mailbox?”

“Nope”

“Mountain?”

“There are no mountains around here.”

“Murder?”

“What?” Sanji looked quizzically at Zoro.

“Coz I’m gonna kill you if you don’t tell me the answer already.”

Sanji sighed, “It was moss.”

“There is no m -

“On your head dumbass” Sanji cut Zoro off. “Fine we won’t play anymore.”

They walked in silence for a while longer until Zoro picked up the slack. “So why is your favourite colour green?” He asked, trying to find anything to talk about.

“Because it’s the colour of trees and grass, and forests and it makes me feel small.” Zoro was confused.

“Why do you want to feel small?”

“It makes me realise how truly insignificant I am to the world and everything around me.” Sanji answered mysteriously.

“You didn’t answer my question” Zoro replied.

Sanji stopped walking and looked up to the sky “If I’m small and insignificant, I can’t hurt anybody.” They reached the front of the school and Sanji walked away without another word. Zoro was left wondering what the hell the blondie meant.

A special assembly was called and everyone crammed into the giant auditorium and took their seats. Zoro could see the swirly brow clearly from where he was sitting near the back of the room. The principal Mr Iceberg came on and started talking about timetables and school starting up again and all that. Zoro didn’t really listen, he never really listened, he just loved to watch the curly brow. Something about it made assembly all the more tolerable, he could see him shake his head to get the hair out of his eyes, he could see him fix his hair with his hands afterwards. He had really delicate, long fingers, Zoro often wondered if he played the piano or something.

Suddenly, swirls went the lightest shade of white he had ever seen, and he looked horrified. The auditorium was silent. What just happened? The vice principle Ms Kalifa came onto the stage, but Zoro wasn’t listening to what she said. Zoro watched Sanji get up, he was shaking; his skin had gone almost transparent and he stumbled out of the row of teenagers and ran out the door at the back of the hall. No one spoke. Zoro had to know what just happened.

He leaned over to a red headed lanky kid beside him.

“What just happened?” he asked the stranger.

“Some year 9 girl killed herself over the holidays; she was being bullied by some other students or something.” Zoro’s brain clicked. Sanji. Bullying. Girl. Dead. Oh no. Sanji could never have bullied that poor girl? Did he? Is she dead because of him? There’s no way…

There was a picture projected onto the giant screen at the front, it was a small black haired girl; she was cute, with a nice smile. Zoro recognised her, he’d seen her around before. She was one of the girls that followed Sanji around and giggled at him.

“If I’m small and insignificant, I can’t hurt anybody.” Zoro muttered Sanji’s words. But he’s not small and insignificant, he the most popular kid in the whole goddamn school and he’s rich. Does that mean he can hurt people? Does that mean Sanji hurt that girl?

Zoro had never seen Sanji bully anyone, except him.

“If anyone knows anything about the bullying that has taken place here please let me or any teacher know immediately. Thank you; that will be all students.” Ms Kalifa dismissed everyone.

The students filled out of the auditorium in silence, nothing like this has ever happened before. Zoro felt sick; how could anyone be so cruel to another person?

Zoro’s feeling toward Sanji was shaken, he didn’t know what to feel; disgust? Hatred? No one should ever have that sort of power over people. Popularity is fucking bullshit. Zoro was determined to find Sanji and tell him just that.

***

Sanji filed into the auditorium with the rest of his friends; Luffy, Nami, Vivi and Usopp took seats around him as Mr Iceberg welcomed everyone to the start of another year. But Sanji had other things on his mind, he needed to find the black haired girl. Sanji felt sick that he didn’t even know her name. He needed to apologize, he wasn’t a monster, and he never wanted her to get bullied so badly; sometimes, he hated his popularity.

He looked over the sea of heads in front of him, his eyes shot across to those with black hair, but he couldn’t see their faces, he couldn’t tell which one was her. He didn’t even know if any of them were her. Nami noticed his searching and whispered to him.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for someone.”

“Can I help?” Nami offered, “do I know them?”

“No, probably not.”

“Mustn’t be anyone important then.” She replied. Sanji hated that. He hated that Nami just assumed that if she didn’t know them they didn’t matter! Sanji hated how popular people always did things like that. And he especially hated that he did it too sometimes.

“How would you know? You don’t even know them!” Sanji snapped.

“Geeze! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” Nami threw up her arms and crossed them over her chest. Sanji went back to looking for the girl. His eyes scanned the room and fell on the screen at the front of the hall. It was her, the black haired girl from the party; she was on the screen. He tuned in to what the deputy principal was saying:

“…Rebecca Smith, a year nine student, unfortunately committed suicide over the summer break.”

Sanji’s breath hitched. What? She killed herself? No! Sanji had to apologise! He was going to make it better! He was going to tell her that it was alright! Sanji couldn’t breathe; his lungs tightened around him. He was terrified. Was it his fault? Did he do this? It can’t be.

“…It seems that students from this school were involved in horrific cyber bullying that lead to the death of Rebecca. A video of an incident at a party was posted on social media and all those involved in the ordeal will be turned over to the police…”

“Hey, isn’t that the girl that asked you out at the party?” Nami leaned over to him.

Sanji felt faint, he felt like he was going to be sick. How could this have happened? He couldn’t breathe, he was sweating uncontrollably and his breathing became erratic. It felt like everyone in the room was staring at him, it felt like they could see right through him. It felt like he was drowning, and no one was going to save him. He had to get out. He had to be away from all these people.

He stood up, his knees were weak and he shook frantically, he passed everyone in the row as quickly as he could and tears streamed down his face. What had he done? He killed her. It was his fault. He ran out of the auditorium as fast as he could. He went to the only place that he knew was safe, that no one would come for him. The roof.

Sanji’s heart raced and skipped. His eyes blurred and his whole body shook uncontrollably. What was happening to him? His throat tightened until all he could do was wheeze and gasp for air. He gripped the rails of the staircase for dear life. It felt like he was being stampeded by a heard of elephants. He was being crushed from the inside out by his own lungs that refused to draw breath.

It felt like that moment when you trip, seconds before you hit the ground; you’re falling, and it’s too late to do anything, too late to get help, too late to catch your breath. The only thing you can do is wait, until you hit the ground. The only thing you can do is wait for the pain, wait for death. Now take that instant of pure terror, and make it last for minutes, for hours. While your thoughts run on, your body refuses to function and it feels like you’re on fire. And you’re drowning without water. That’s what Sanji felt. All at the same time.

The blond reached the small attic and shut the folding staircase up behind him. He stumbled onto the hard wooden floor and lay there, trying to catch his breath, trying, but failing, to turn off his mind. To turn of the endless ocean he was being pulled deeper and deeper into. The room spun and he didn’t even notice that he stopped crying, the tears died up and all he was left with was the feeling of suffocating, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. It was his fault. He killed her.

“Hey dumb blond! Are you okay?” It was Zoro. How did he get in? How did he know where he was? Why didn’t he hear the staircase open? _‘He can’t see me like this. What have I done? He hates me. They all hate me. I’m a murderer. I’m going to go to prison. I killed her. I’m a monster. I deserve to die.’_  All of these thoughts went rushing through Sanji’s mind in an instant and he felt worse. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He couldn’t look at the marimo.

“Get out!” he wheezed out, between gasps for air “get away from me!” Zoro had the full intention of trying to kill the stupid ass, when he arrived. But now, Sanji was struggling for breath, splayed out on the floor, he could just leave him. He had to help, somehow.

“What’s wrong; are you choking?”

“No….” Sanji hyperventilated.

“Well, calm down.”

“I can’t... hughhh…calm down…hughhh, you idiot.” Sanji gasped out. “Panic… Attack.”

“Well…” shit. Zoro had no fucking idea how to deal with this “…think calming thoughts.” Sanji’s breathing got more intense, he started thrashing around and convulsing. “Fuck… I don’t know!” Zoro walked over to Sanji and lifted him up off the cold, hard floor. He carried him over to an old dusty couch and laid him down. “What are you feeling?”

“Drowning...” Sanji shook and gasped frantically.

“Close your eyes.”

“What?..”

“Just do it.”  Sanji closed his eyes, but continued to tremble and struggle for breath. “You’re in the ocean, a calm ocean, the water is a brilliant blue and the sky is clear, the sun beats down on you as you swim beneath the surface.” Zoro sat on the floor next to the couch were Sanji lay. “You’re not drowning, because you’re not human. You’re a fish. You breathe the oxygen in the water through your gills. Don’t fight it, just breathe in the water.” Sanji began to breathe easier. “The water flows over you as you swim through the open seas. You breathe the water in deeply, letting it fill your gills completely and give you strength.” Sanji took several deep breaths. “What else are you feeling?”

“Shaking.”

“You’re a mountain. The wind gushes past you, but you don’t move. Nothing shakes you. You have been here for centuries; unmoveable. Trees and forests blanket you from the harsh air, you can hear the birds singing in the trees and deer walk through grazing on some grass. But still you don’t move.” Sanji condition grew less and less severe and he was more capable of forming proper sentences. “What are you feeling now?”

“My heart is racing. But I’m fine.” Sanji opened his eyes and sat up, but he still couldn’t look at Zoro. Like somehow looking at him would make the situation all the more real. Like reality is just a concept that Sanji can bend to his will. Maybe he could just pretend it never happened. Maybe he could just pretend none of this ever happened. “Thank you.” Zoro nodded in reply.

“Can you just answer one question?”

“What?”

“Did you bully that girl?” Zoro asked flatly, staring off at the opposite wall, preparing for the answer. Sanji couldn’t see his face.

“No.” Sanji replied, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket, putting it up to his lips and lighting it. He inhaled a lung full of smoke and blew it out again. “But I could have stopped it. I _should_ have stopped it.” Zoro didn’t know which was worse: causing someone’s pain or doing nothing to stop them.

“I won’t tell anyone…about this.” Zoro stood up and began walking out of the dusty attic.

“Hey!” Sanji shouts after Zoro and he turns around. “Do you still think I’m not like the rest of the popular kids?”

Zoro shrugged “I’m not so sure anymore.”


	5. That Makes Two of Us

Several weeks went by without any incidents. School dragged on and Zoro hadn’t spoken to Sanji for weeks. Whenever they were in the vicinity of one another they refused to acknowledge each other’s existence.

Zoro felt cheated. He thought the stupid blond was better than the rest of them; he thought he was different. But he ended up being the exact same. Zoro avoided Sanji on principal, his pride couldn’t face being around someone who could just stand by and let someone get hurt.

“Ahem, Mr Roronoa, would you mind at least _pretending_ to pay attention, instead of staring out the window.” Mr Shanks, the redheaded biology teacher called at him from the front of the room. Zoro sighed and looked down at his notebook; blank. He had barely written a word since that day he met Sanji in the roof. He would go there at lunch to get away from all the people, but ever since he met Sanji there, he couldn’t risk it. He didn’t know what to say anymore.

What made it worse was the fact that after all the panicking Sanji did everything went straight back to normal the next day. Like nothing ever happened, Rebecca was forgotten and class continued as normal. Zoro still saw Sanji laughing with his friends and snickering behind people’s backs. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that deep down he was hurt. Sanji just didn’t look the same, he was paler, his eyes were a more faded shade of blue, and whenever he was alone, that Zoro could see, he looked sad, almost terrified.

Zoro looked back up and noticed he was alone in an empty classroom. He vaguely remembered blurs of moving people as he was staring out the window again. He stood and shoved his blue notebook back into his backpack and walked out the door.

It was lunch. Students were moving and shuffling around the campus laughing to themselves and steering clear of him. Some would whisper behind his back and turn to look at him, but he didn’t care. He kept walking then took a right, he was pretty sure that was the way to the tuckshop, but he had a history of ending up in some pretty strange places.

When he stopped walking he was alone in a kitchen. The lights were out and the stainless steel benchtops shimmered as the sun’s rays shone through the window. Zoro sat down on the floor and decided it was a good place to spend the break.

“What the hell am I doing?” he mumbled to himself; grade twelve was right around the corner and he didn’t even know what he was going to do with his life.

“I have no idea.” A voice spoke from behind him, he jumped up and swung himself around. It was Sanji. The very person he’d been avoiding the past weeks.

“What are you doing here?”

“Here?” Sanji gestured to the room “this is my classroom. What are _you_ doing here?”

“Just leaving.” Zoro snapped turning and stepping towards the door.  
  
“Wait--” Sanji called stepping towards Zoro. “Did- did you know her?” he whispered looking down at his glossy, black shoes.

“Who, Rebecca?” the swirly brow visibly shook and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah.”

“No I didn’t, but does it matter? She’s gone and there’s no bringing her back. A life is a life.” The blond didn’t move.

“I’m sorry.” He whimpered out. “I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I swear I never said a bad word to the girl.” Sanji added frantically looking at Zoro directly in the eyes. Zoro noticed he was afraid, terrified.

“Why are you telling me this?” Zoro crinkled his nose and stepped backwards.

“Because I realised that out of all the people in the whole school, you’re the only one that understands.”

“Why would I understand?”

“Because you’re the only one who doesn’t give a shit about what people think!”

“That’s bullshit.”

“No, it’s true. Everyone thinks I’m some sort of amazing role model. They think I’m a genius, a prodigy, always winning awards, chef at a restaurant at such a young age. Everybody loves me, I even have my own fan club! But what am I if people can be so cruel in my name? I’m nothing! I don’t deserve this life. People bullied that girl because she asked me out, because she had the audacity to like me! It’s not fair!” Sanji burst into tears and covered his face with his hands “And here you are not bothered by a single word! It’s not fair!”

Zoro didn’t know what to say, he never really knew what to say around the blond anymore. He still liked the jerk; his stomach would do flips whenever he was close enough to look into his eyes. But he just wanted everything to go back to normal. He wished they could go back to beating each other up and calling each other names. That was the only thing he was really good at.

“Wanna fight?” Zoro suggested.

“What?” Sanji’s voice became firm again and he looked up at the marimo. He had stopped crying.

“If you fight me, you’re not an amazing role model anymore. You’re just some loser who picks fights with kids. But that’s the way I always thought you were anyway.” Zoro smirked.

“You asshole” Sanji frowned and stepped towards him, raising his right leg to kick him in the face. Zoro dodged the kick expertly and threw his fist under swirly’s ribcage, pushing him backwards against the counter. Sanji doubled over and clutched his stomach dropping to the ground and leaning against the blue cupboards. Sanji sat there holding his bruised ribs for quite some time. Zoro made no effort to move.

“What the hell’s up with you Pascal swirls? Did I hurt you?”

“No!” Sanji defended and stood up again. He closed the gap in an instant and swept Zoro’s feet out from under him, the moss head crashed to the ground and Sanji put his foot on his chest and looked down at him. The blond leaned down until his mouth was right next to Zoro’s ear. “I know you’re going easy on me.” Zoro’s stomach clenched.

“Shut up, dartboard brow!” he gritted out; neither of them moved.

“Why don’t we just forget the whole thing and--” the bell rang loudly and Sanji shot up.

“Go back to the way things were?” Zoro offered.

“Yeah” Sanji sighed and smoothed out his hair, with his pale slender fingers “So, see you tomorrow morning then,”

“Tomorrow morning? But we have no classes--”

“Don’t you remember? I have to walk you to school, because you’ve been late every day for the past three weeks. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.” Zoro blushed and looked down; maybe the jerk isn’t such a jerk after all, but he’ll definitely have to keep a close eye on him.

 *****

Zoro felt much better about everything, he no longer had the urge to avoid the stupid blond whenever he saw him and he could finally go back up to the roof when he wanted to be alone.

“Hey! Stupid Marimo!” Zoro turned around and watched the skinny blond run past a crowd of giggling juniors.  Zoro turned back around and kept walking. “What are you doing? You’re going the wrong way!”

“Am not!”

“Urrgh! You’re such a loser! Your house is _that_ way” Sanji grabbed his shoulders and twisted him around. Sanji’s hands felt warm; Zoro didn’t mind him touching him, which was unusual because he hated being touched. “Have you tried using Google maps?”

“A million fucking times. I still get lost… the streets move.” Sanji burst out laughing.

“Ha—Oh my god! The _streets_ move?! That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard!”

“Shut up! It’s true!” Zoro punched him on the arm softly. Well, softly for him, compared to others it would be pretty hard.

“Okay, okay...” Sanji raised his arms in surrender “I know you just can’t navigate for shit.”

“Leave me alone, I’ll get home eventually.”

“Eventually? Like in two years. When’s the last time you got home on time anyway?”

“Fuck you.” They walked in silence for a while, the awkwardness of the past few weeks still shrouded the mood. Zoro got nervous. Maybe he was too harsh to the softie. He recalled the last times they walked together, and he remembered Sanji asking him about the black haired girl, Rebecca. “So did you have a thing for that girl or…” Zoro asked cautiously.

“No way!” Sanji interjected “I mean… I’m sure she was a lovely person but I never spoke to her… Can we talk about something else?”

“Sure; but avoiding your problems doesn’t make them go away.” Sanji sighed, Zoro looked over at his face and saw his guilt. Zoro never aspired to make anyone feel bad, but he wasn’t very good at holding up a conversation, so he switched to the one thing he was good at: competing. “Hey! I’ll race you there!” Zoro said as he began sprinting in the direction he was walking.

“No wait! You’ll get lost!” Sanji sprinted after him, but it was too late. He was out of sight; he had turned down a random street and when Sanji got there, he was gone. “Just like you, dumb marimo.” Sanji laughed to himself, he was really starting to get the hang of this guy, and he was fairly sure lettuce was starting to get the hang of him too.

After searching for a while he gave up and decided to walk home. He said it himself, he’ll make it home eventually. And right now, Sanji just wanted to put some ice on the giant bruise Zoro had given him earlier that day. As the blond turned down his street he saw the principal Mr Iceberg talking with his father on the front steps.

“Oh there he is.” Mr Iceberg glanced over in Sanji’s direction motioning for him to come over and talk to him.

“What’s the matter?” He asked the principal.

“Well, I’m here to ask you a few questions about your involvement with the incident involving Rebecca that was posted on social media.”

“Why don’t you come inside and discuss this.” Zeff offered opening the door and holding it for the principal.

“Yes that would be fine. Sanji, I’m sorry that I have to do this after school hours but it was the best way to get you, and your father, alone. I’ve heard it is your day off today.”

“Yeah, well I normally use Wednesdays to catch up on homework.” Sanji sat down on the couch opposite the principal, a small wooden coffee table sat between them.

“Let’s get straight to the point.” Mr Iceberg leant forwards and opened a black notebook. Was he carrying that before? Sanji hadn’t noticed. “On the last day of school last year, you went to a party at a student’s house: Mr Monkey D. Luffy Is that correct?”

“Yes.” He scribbled something in the notebook, and Sanji’s heart sank. He felt his breathing increase and his palms grew unusually hot. Zeff sat in an armchair next to the principal, he didn’t say a word.

“And at some point during that party a girl approached you and asked you out on a date?” Sanji was tired of people calling her ‘the girl’ or ‘some chick’ or any form of those names. He knew it was hypocritical, because he too used to call her ‘the black haired girl’, but that was because he couldn’t face the fact that he had led to Rebecca’s death. But hearing the principal call her just ‘a girl’ made him feel sick. Like her name wasn’t worth mentioning. Sanji hoped that when he died, people would be proud to talk about his life; he hoped they would be proud to speak his name.

“Rebecca, yes.” Sanji stated firmly and Mr Iceberg nervously coughed.

“Yes-well... Let me just ask you- did you, at any time, bully her?”

“no-” Sanji squeaked out, his throat tightened around his words as his face turned hot. Mr Iceberg looked at him sceptically, he drew his face into a frown and stared at Sanji.

“I’m afraid, I’ll have to have the police go through your computer just to be sure...”

“What? Don’t you believe me!?” Sanji stood up and clenched his fists by his side.

“That’s not for me to decide. But I’ll ask you one more time… Did you bully Rebecca Smith, in any way?” He narrowed his eyes and stared at the student intently.

“No. I- I tried to apologize but it was too late. I never saw her again.” Sanji was on the brink of tears; he looked down at the floor.

“Okay, well I’ll be off then. Unless of course, you know who threatened Rebecca, or who took the video?”

“No, I’m sorry, I don’t.”

“Well, I will see you at school on Monday, Mr Black and the police will be here any second.” The principal stood and shook hands with Sanji before Zeff showed him out. Zeff stomped back into the room grumbling something about principals and police coming to the house…

“What the hell was that about?” He demanded, leaning closer to the blond.

“Nothi--”

“What did you do!?” Zeff questioned loudly grabbing Sanji by the collar. “Did you hurt someone?! I will not tolerate you hurting people, stupid kid!” He shouted pushing Sanji back against the couch. “You’re grounded for a month”

“But I --”

“No!” Zeff loomed over him, “you are not to leave this house other than to go to school for one month. That means no friends and no Baratie!”

“What!? You can’t ban me from working!” Sanji was furious, he didn’t mind a month away from his friends – he’ll still see them at school every day – but a month without cooking at the restaurant? He couldn’t take it! “I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! All I did was go to a party, stay for half an hour and then leave!” Zeff’s face grew angrier, as he stepped closer to Sanji.

“I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU DID AND DIDN’T DO! I AM YOUR FATHER, AND YOU ARE GROUNDED!” Tears ran down Sanji’s face, he was innocent, why couldn’t Zeff see that?! Why couldn’t anyone see that!? First the principal and now his own father? Why didn’t people believe him? It wasn’t his fault, he never meant to hurt anybody. All Sanji could think about was how an innocent girl had died, and people wanted to blame it on him! He would never do such a thing! He hated that no one believed him. He hated that his own _father_ refused to hear his side of the story… He hated him! He hated everyone and their stupid faces!

“YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!” He screamed at the bearded blond, tears and rage streamed down his face.

“HOW DARE YOU! AFTER ALL I DID FOR YOU! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” The giant chef grabbed him by the collar, dragged him to the front door and threw him out of the house with mighty force. “DON’T YOU COME BACK UNTIL YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO APOLOGISE TO ME!” He screeched furiously and slammed the door behind him.

Tears were streaming down Sanji’s face and blurring his vision as he raced through the empty streets. The sun was just going down and the street lights began to turn on around him. He pulled off his red tie and shoved it in his pocket as he slowed his pace. The tears had dried up, but his eyes were still blurry.

Sanji didn’t know what to do. He’d never spent a night on the street before, he didn’t want to think about it. He kept walking as the light faded and it was completely dark.  About half an hour went by and the night grew colder, Sanji grew frightened as he heard dogs bark and cars whistle on nearby streets. Cicadas chirped and the delicious smelling food from nearby houses filled his nose. It was unbearable. Every sound echoed in his ears and made him feel all the more alone. He walked until he reached a small, open field. The grass was cut short and the traffic noise was minimal, in the middle of the field was a park with a climbing frame and a swing. Sanji flipped his collar up and shrugged off the cold. There was no way he was apologising to Zeff tonight. He walked over to the swing slowly and sat down.

The dark was eerie, he could barely see the shadow of the slide next to him, but the stars were bright and he enjoyed watching them. So much so that he didn’t see the shadowy figure approach him.

“Hey-” the voice spoke. Sanji jumped and took a few steps backward, he couldn’t see his face, it was too dark. “Um-” the shadow fidgeted “could you please tell me how to get to Myles street?” Sanji recognised that voice. He would know it anywhere. It was that stupid, idiot marimo, and he was lost.

“So, you’re lost?” Sanji chuckled.

“It’s _you!”_ Zoro was overjoyed and a little bit embarrassed “Thank- god! I thought I would be spending another night out on the street. Come on it’s late, let’s go home. I won’t run off this time, I learnt my lesson.”

“Wait a second… You’ve spent nights out on the street before?” Sanji was confused.

“Yeah all the time. Whenever I get…” he paused “I mean, whenever the streets move.” Sanji laughed, the pain of being kicked out of home was pushed to the back of his mind. “So what the hell are you doing out here this late anyway?”

“Well… Um…” Sanji didn’t want to tell him the truth, but he didn’t have to. Zoro could tell that the blond had just been crying, he could hear it in his voice. The benefits of having an older sister who was way into sad movies… But Zoro didn’t really know how to deal with a crying man, so he just decided it was better not to talk about it.

“Well anyway – I’m glad it’s not raining tonight. Being stuck out in the rain is the worst.” Sanji noticed that the moss head purposely changed the topic so he didn’t have to answer. He was beginning to think the muscle head was the most understanding person he had ever met… which was ridiculous… because just last year he had been the stupidest kid Sanji had ever known.

“I don’t think I know my way home. It’s dark, I don’t have my phone and I’ve never been here before.” Sanji almost whispered while swinging slightly on the swing set.

“Oh.” Zoro sighed disappointingly “So, What now?”

“I’m going to walk around for a bit, it’s getting cold.” Sanji stood from the swing set and began to walk in the direction he had come. Zoro followed closely behind. “What are you doing?”

“Following you.”

“I can see that. But why?”

“Because--” Zoro paused to find the words to say “I’m alone, and you’re alone and together we’re not.” He looked up at the stars; the moonlight shone on his face enough for Sanji to see a single tear roll down Zoro’s cheek. He quickly wiped it away. “Let’s just say that living on the streets at night isn’t fun.” Sanji could feel the algae’s mood, and he also knew that the dumb seaweed was right. Sanji didn’t want to be alone just as much as oranges didn’t want to be blue.

 “Okay, but I have no idea how to get home...”

“That makes two of us.”

They walked in silence for quite some time. Sanji’s mind began to replay the events of the night over and over. Mr Iceberg, his father. Sanji regretted saying that Zeff wasn’t his father; just because he wasn’t his biological son didn’t mean he didn’t care about the old geezer. But sometimes he was just a little too harsh. Sanji had never told anyone that he was adopted, not even his closest friends, he was always afraid that they would outcast him; like Zoro. But then, Zoro wasn’t that much of a loser; sure he didn’t have any friends, but that’s mainly because people at the school thought he was a dumb pot- head or something.

“You know, people at Enterprise Heights think you’re a pot head.”

“Yeah I know… But I don’t really care.”

“How can you not care?! It’s your reputation on the line.”

“My reputation is that I don’t really care. If people think I do drugs let them think that, they’re wrong, but it doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“It hurts you… Doesn’t it?”

“Only if I let it.” Sanji liked the sound of that. Nothing can hurt you unless you let it… he liked the sound of that a lot. He smiled. “What are you smiling about?”

“What? Nothing.” the dartbrow frowned again. Because he totally wasn’t thinking of how strong and understanding the stupid grass head was. Sanji sighed. He needed to talk to someone about what happened with Zeff. And who else would understand him better than the only person who knew the truth about Rebecca’s death. “Hey can I tell you about something?”

“Sure.”

“You have to promise not to tell anyone.”

“Who am I gonna tell? No one would believe that you spoke to me in the first place.”

“Just promise.”

“I promise not to tell anyone.”

“My dad kicked me out of home.” Sanji prepared to be laughed at, he prepared to be called weak and stupid and all sorts of horrible names… but Zoro said nothing. After a short while he paused and looked at the ground.

“Is it permanent?” Sanji was confused.

“No, no. Just until I apologise.” He clarified, Zoro looked up and looked at the blond quizzically.

“Then apologise to him you idiot!”

“No! He didn’t believe me. And my pride is worth more than that.”

“You’d rather live on the streets than say you’re sorry?”

“You don’t understand! I hate him! He didn’t even give me a chance to explain!”

“You’re an idiot.” Zoro stated flatly and kept walking. “I personally don’t like spending time hungry, alone and in the cold. So if you don’t mind, please tell me the way home.” Zoro stepped in front of swirls and stared blankly at his face. Sanji was shocked.

“Come on I’ll take you home.” Sanji sighed out.

The rest of the way was silent. Sanji was sad and annoyed that Zoro didn’t understand him. he thought that, after everything, lettuce would be the only one to understand. But then again, Sanji had lived his whole life misunderstood. They reached Zoro’s house in about an hour and Sanji stopped outside the front gate.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know I can’t go home.”

“You’re really gonna be that stubborn?” Zoro laughed deeply and smiled at the tall blond “Why am I not surprised. Come in and have some food. Have you eaten?”

“No.”

“Good. You’re gonna love Kuina’s cooking.”

“But it’s past midnight-”

“Kuina always saves my share for when I come home late.”

“But--”

“Just get your ass inside, dumbass.” Sanji couldn’t refuse, he was starving and cold and he hated the thought of apologising to Zeff. They walked inside the small brick house to a cramped, dark hallway. Zoro turned the light on and Sanji saw frames of family photos covering the walls. There were photos of a tall man with dark hair tied back in a ponytail with a woman and a blue-haired child; swirls assumed it to be Kuina. Zoro was not in the earlier photographs with the woman, in fact, Zoro was not in a single photo with her. There were a surprisingly small number of photos containing Zoro and none of them were taken before he was at least 10. Sanji wondered where the woman was now and why Zoro wasn’t in photos with her.

“Is this your mother?” Sanji asked pointing to a photograph of the mysterious woman. Zoro froze and stared at the picture, trying to figure out if he should tell him the truth. Zoro decided that it would be unfair to lie to Sanji, since he, himself, had been only truthful.

“No it’s Kuina’s mother.” He took a deep breath and built up the courage to answer the obvious onslaught of questions to come.

“She’s you half-sister?” Sanji didn’t understand.

“I’m not her brother….” Zoro paused for quite some time and took several deep breaths “…I was adopted.” Sanji froze in shock. Zoro was… adopted? He had no idea. Kuina and the grass head had always gotten along so well, he never would have guessed… Sanji hadn’t met anyone else who was adopted. Most of his friends at school still had happily married parents, or at least parents. But Sanji never knew his parents, he was told that they didn’t want him. A million thoughts were rushing through the blonde’s head. He didn’t know whether to keep asking questions, or to say that he was adopted too…

“I--” he stuttered out.

“I’m so hungry let’s just get some food!” Zoro cut him off before he could tell him. But Sanji didn’t want to change the topic back to painful memories so he just decided to go with it. Zoro led him to a tiny wooden kitchen with a microwave, an oven, a stove and a fridge. Zoro pulled what looked like leftover stew out of the fridge and poured some into two bowls. He shoved them in the microwave and they waited in silence for several minutes before the marimo pulled them out and shoved one in Sanji’s hand.

“Here” Zoro grabbed cutlery and let Sanji sit down at the table. After a long while of silence Sanji felt like he had to say something.

“You didn’t have to do this you know-”

“I know, but I owe you for showing me how to get here. Plus, we have school tomorrow, and I didn’t really want to spend the night in the cold. “

“You don’t owe me anything.” _I owe you_. Sanji stated to himself; and he really did owe him. Sanji was rich, but he was being fed by a poor family. It made him feel almost sick for accepting the stupid moss’s invitation.

“So, I can get you some sheets and you can sleep on the couch tonight if you want.” Zoro felt clammy and nervous. It wasn’t weird right? I mean, guys had sleepovers all the time. So why did Zoro blush like that?

“Umm—I don’t know...” Sanji already felt horrible about using Zoro.

“Unless you’d rather spend the night on the street.” Zoro didn’t even let the blond reply before walking off to fetch the sheets. “It might be a little weird if Koshiro wakes up and finds you on the couch in the living room, so I’m gonna put a mattress in my room. Is that okay?” Sanji lungs involuntarily took a gasp of air. In his room? Sanji had no idea what was happening to him lately. Ever since his panic attack in the roof at school, he’s been having weird thoughts about the green-haired idiot. Thoughts that began with the words bed and room…

“Yeah that’s fine.” He finally choked out. He’s never felt this way about anyone before. Not even the prettiest girl in the world… Sanji shook the thought out of his head and helped Zoro make up the mattress for him to sleep on. But no matter what he did he couldn’t shake the thoughts stuck in his head. “Do you hate them?” He asked ambiguously.

“Who?”

“People like me… people who think they can walk all over other people.” Sanji hopped on the bed that they had made and looked over to Zoro who was sitting on his own bed.

“I don’t care if they think they’re better. But if they hurt someone because of it, there ass is mine.” He smirked.

“I hate them.”

“Does that mean you hate yourself?” Sanji didn’t reply. Zoro put his head on the pillow and turned out the light. “If you hate the way you are then do something about it.” Zoro spoke like the answer was obvious, like people could just change in an instant with pure will power. But in a way, he was right. Sanji realised that the only person that could change him was him. Every second Sanji spent talking with Zoro felt like he was getting smarter. But not in the way he could solve complex equations, in the kind of way that he could become a better person.

“But I don’t think you’re like that.” Zoro whispered as he drifted to sleep on the bed below him. Sanji’s heart began to beat faster and he felt a tingling sensation in his chest; he didn’t know what the feeling was exactly but he sure knew he wanted to feel it again.


	6. Hook, Line and Sinker

“Sanji! Are you even listening?” He wasn’t. He was thinking about the muscle-brained, green- haired idiot. Again. He’d been thinking about him a lot. It seemed like he was the only person that he could have a deep conversation with and not expect some shallow, arrogant comment.

“Sanji!” The tall red haired girl waved her slender hand in his face.

“Yes, my sweet!” He snapped back to attention.

“I was just saying how pretty that girl is over there. I think she likes you.” Sanji looked over to a tall, very attractive blond who glanced over to him and winked. Sanji looked away instantly, he was a little sick of people having crushes on him. “She’s soooo popular, she hangs out with the seniors! Look Ace and Franky are there too…” Nami and Vivi giggled and waved at them.

“Who is she? I haven’t seen her before.” Sanji queried.

“Her name’s Amelia, she just moved here from the United States!” Luffy shouted across the table. “She’s in my Home Ec class!”

“Luffy, why don’t you invite your brother and his friends to sit with us?” Nami smirked deviously staring at Sanji. Sanji didn’t like the look on Nami-san’s face but he couldn’t refuse the lady.

“That’s such a good idea! Nami you’re the best!” Luffy bounced over to the other table and hung his arms around Ace’s neck. They spoke for a second then the whole table stood up and began moving.

“Why did you do that, Nami-swan? I was content sitting here with you and Vivi-san.”

“Sanji. You’ve been the most popular kid in school for years, yet whenever someone asks you out, you refuse. Every single time. Don’t you think it’s time to get a girlfriend?”

“But, my sweet, I don’t want a girlfriend--” Sanji began to defend.

“Maybe not a girlfriend; but everyone wants a _lover_.” Nami leered at him. He shivered. There was something in the way she said ‘lover’ that caught him up. Sanji had said he didn’t want a girlfriend, and that was true; he hated the idea of a girl sitting on his lap and following him around. But there was nothing that said he didn’t want a _lover._ Sanji did indeed want a lover, and Nami knew it. Sanji went red and shook the images that came into his mind; they were certainly not things to be thinking about when talking to young ladies. Ace and Franky sat down and were quick to start a conversation with Luffy and Usopp about football. Amelia stood behind a chair opposite Sanji.

“May I please sit here?” She asked gently. Her American accent sounded rough compared to the other students. Sani stared at her face for a while before Nami elbowed him hard in the ribs. He flinched and held his side.

“Of course you can, my sweet…?” Sanji already knew her name.

“Amelia Adams. But you can call me Amy if you like.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amy.” Sanji stood and bowed. Amy giggled with her hand over her mouth and sat down. “My name is Sanji Black. But you can call me um--” Swirls, curly brow, stupid blondie, dartboard brow, curly, pascal swirl… Sanji had a really hard time thinking of a nickname that wasn’t degrading. He kind of liked the dumb marimo calling him names, his personal favourite was pascal swirl. He had a hard time not bursting into laughter the first time he heard Zoro say it. “Well I suppose you can just call me Sanji.”

 “Sanji. That’s a nice name. What does it mean?”

“In Japanese it means ‘to be admired or praised’”

“How ironic for you to be highly admired at this school.”

“Yes indeed. And what does the name Amelia mean?” Sanji just wanted the break to be over, he was being polite. Incredibly polite.

“It means ‘to work’ in Latin, but Amy means--”

“’Beloved’ in French.” Sanji interjected.

“Indeed. Do you speak French?”

“Je parle un peu le Françias, Madame. I only speak a little French. I take French here at school.”

“Oh really? Me too. I was only given my timetable yesterday, so I didn’t really know what classes I had. Going to a new school after the year has already started is tough. Perhaps you could help me with French?”  She twirled a strand of blond hair around in her fingers, leaned over the table and rested her head on her other hand. She was most certainly flirting with him. But Sanji didn’t really mind, he flirted back, as long as he wasn’t leading the poor girl on.

“I would be glad to, Madame!”

“Perhaps you could help me this afternoon after school, if you’re not busy that is…” Sanji took a sharp breath in. He didn’t expect her to ask him out this early; they only just met. But she was clearly flirting with him. Or maybe it was just his imagination? Maybe she really did need help with French? It didn’t look like she cared much about it, but then looks can be deceiving. He didn’t know what to do. Accept? Then what? He couldn’t bring her to his house, he was still grounded. Decline? But it would risk another incident like Rebecca. Sanji’s breathing increased and his heart began to beat so hard he could hear it in his ears. He didn’t want to say yes. But he didn’t want to hurt the girl’s feelings. He was sick of hurting people. He would just make it clear that he was not interested in her, without saying it.

“No, I’m not busy.”

“Great! I’ll see you after school, we can walk together.” The bell range and Amy got up and walked away, Sanji didn’t get to say another word.

“That was soo great!” Nami chimed in finally “you two hit it off like MacDonald’s and obesity!”

“Yeah, I’m surprised you agreed to go out with her so fast.” Vivi added politely.

“I’m not going out with her, I’m just helping her with French.” He defended putting his head in his hands. He regrated everything. Now the whole school will find out and think that they’re dating.

“Suuuree…” Nami rolled her eyes and left with Vivi to their next class.

“Hey! Broooo! Is it true you’re dating the new girl? She is suuuupeeer hot! Right?” The giant blue-haired footballer shouted at him from halfway across the lunch area.

“I’m just helping her learn French!” He shouted back. What has he done? Gossip spreads like wildfire at Enterprise Heights and he just lit the match.

***

Wherever he walked people whispered things behind him. He heard a few muttered comments like: ‘The new girl?’ or ‘No way! He doesn’t date!’. The school was shocked; Sanji had only dated a girl once in his entire life: the girl in the broom closet. She dumped him not long after Zoro interrupted them kissing, which was a relief, because he would never have built up the courage to dump her. Sanji was the kind of person who dated someone accidentally, then couldn’t stand the thought of hurting their feelings. He would probably end up dating Amy until she dumped him. He sighed deeply; he needed a smoke.

At the end of his class he went straight up to the roof and lit a cigarette. He didn’t know whether to avoid Amy or just get over the fact that they were ‘dating’. It was ridiculous, they had literally only spoken for five minutes. It might turn out that Amy really wanted help with French and that’s all. Or it might turn out that she really did ask him out and tonight will be their first date. Shit. He wasn’t ready for a first date. He didn’t even want to date her. The door opened and startled him. The marimo walked in.

“You’re a little edgy today, swirly eyes.” He sat down on the couch as Sanji looked out the tiny window.

“Leave me alone, I have enough on my mind.”

“Sheesh! Someone’s defensive.” He raised his hands in surrender.

“I suppose you heard then?”

“Heard what?” Sanji smiled to himself; he often forgot that Zoro was completely isolated from the other students. He was the only one that was completely uncorrupted by rumours.

“I’m dating--” Sanji hated the word ‘dating’. They hadn’t been on a single date yet. “I mean; I’m going on a date with the new girl.”

“New girl?” Zoro was shocked. Sanji was dating someone? His chest tightened and he felt like he would choke; his airway closed on itself. He sighed. He had known this day would come for a long time. He had prepared for it. The very first time they had met Sanji was making out with a chick. It wasn’t at all surprising that he would eventually date another. In fact, Zoro was surprised Sanji had been single for so long. But it didn’t make a difference; it still hurt. Zoro’s crush was dating someone else. He had pretty much given up hope on Sanji being gay. But he could still dream. “You mean Amy?”

“You know her?” Sanji turned around.

“She’s in my Bio class.” His words were bitter. The idea of her was suddenly disgusting. Zoro blamed her for taking Sanji away. He was jealous. Extremely jealous.

“What’s she like?”

“You should know, you’re dating her.” Zoro uttered sharply. He resented their relationship already, and he hadn’t even seen them together.

“We only just met.” Sanji admitted, “but rumours spread like fire in this school. We’re going home together this afternoon.” There was silence for a time, while Zoro thought it through. They only just met but they were going on a date already…There must have been some major connection between the two. He could feel tears well up behind his eyes; he was glad Sanji was too far away to notice.

“She’s just like any popular person. Arrogant and self- righteous.” Sanji exhaled silently. He didn’t want to be involved with someone like that. “But I think everyone is like that, so you’ll have to figure it out for yourself.” There was a long pause until Zoro built up the courage to ask what was on his mind… “Do you like her?”

 “I’m not really sure. She’s sweet, I guess.” The bell rang for their last period of the day. Sanji had Culinary arts… he was glad; cooking always made him feel better. Zoro left first without a word. Sanji stood in the still, smoky air of the attic for a minute as he popped a mint into his mouth. This was not the day he wanted to be caught smoking.

After class Sanji headed to the front of the school.

“Wait up!” A feminine voice called from behind him. He knew who it was, he dreaded this moment.

“Ah- Mademoiselle Amy, how nice it is to see you again.” She giggled as she grabbed Sanji by the hand and led him out the front gate. Sanji was most certainly _not_ prepared for such a forward gesture so quickly. His head spun and he just wanted to go home, maybe he should just tell her that he wasn’t interested.

“So, I was thinking that we could go to a nice place and later you could come over to my house. If that’s okay with you?” Sanji froze, go to her house? That was a little too close for his liking on the first dat---- It wasn’t a date. He was going to teach her French. That was _all_. He pulled back on his hand and Amy released her grip in shock. They walked side by side for a while before Sanji spoke.

“So- where did you want me to teach you French?  And what would you like to learn?”

“Well, I was thinking we could go to a nice restaurant in town… It’s called The Baratie.” Oh god. Sanji stopped walking and ran a hand through his hair. It was his day off and he was going back there. If he went there his father would see him, Patty and Carne would laugh at him and then literally _everyone_ in his life would know that he was dating Amy. He sighed as Amy starred at him curiously. He definitely didn’t want to go there, but he wanted to tell Amy the truth. He was a very honourable man, he would never lie to a lady. 

“Actually, um… I work at the Baratie, so we should probably go somewhere else. I know a good Café down the road.” 

“OMG you work there?! That’s the best restaurant in the state! Are you a waiter or something?” Amy was amazed, they started walking again.

“Well, actually I’m a chef.” He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand as he put a cigarette to his lips with the other.

“I can see why people like you; you’re so cool. And hot too.” She slurred seductively leaning closer and slipping her arm through the gap between Sanji’s elbow and his waist. He seized up and the cigarette fell from his mouth. “You’re not really good at this, are you?” She joked, Sanji choked on air and cleared his throat loudly.

“—Not… Good at what?”

“Dating.”

“We’re not…”

“Yes we are.” That was it and it was final. Sanji had no say in the matter. He felt cheated, he didn’t agree to this. But he couldn’t find it in his heart to reject her on their first ‘date’, it was not very gentlemanly. He could dump her later, respectfully and with honour. The rest of the journey was silent, they reached the small café that Sanji had suggested, walked out of the treacherous heat and sat down at a small, wooden table in the corner.

“What would you two, lovely people like to order today?” A thin, happy waitress approached them after they had looked over the menu items for a time.

“Thank you, my dear!” Sanji cooed smiling at the waitress enthusiastically, “I think I’ll just get a Coffee—black, one sugar.” The dark-haired waitress blushed and giggled; smiling back cutely and scribbled his order in a small notebook.

“And I’ll have a strawberry milkshake.” The waitressed nodded and strode away to prepare the order. “So… You work at the Baratie. What’s that like?” Amy began to make conversation.

“It’s hard work, but it pays well. I’ve been working there since I was younger. My dad owns the place.”

“Your dad is Mr Black? The best chef in the state?  He’s won all sorts of competitions hasn’t he?” Sanji tensed at the word ‘dad’ he didn’t refer to him as his father. He usually called him ‘old geezer’. He was not on the best terms with him since he was kicked out. After the night he spent at Zoro’s he apologised, but he’s still grounded. Technically he’s not meant to be out today, but the old man wouldn’t notice, he’d be working at the restaurant all night.

“Well, yeah.” Sanji nervously answered. “I hope to be better than him one day.” He added swiftly, he didn’t like talking about the old man. He needed to change the subject. “So, what parts of French did you need help with?”

“Oh.” Amy was surprised Sanji actually wanted to help her. “Well, I’ve never learnt French before so all of it I guess.” She ran her lean fingers through her hair while Sanji pulled out his French notebook. The waitress returned with the beverages and set them on the table; she said nothing.

“Okay, so I think it’ll be best to learn introductions first.” Sanji started. “The word I is Je in French and the word for ‘called’ is appelle  so the phrase ‘my name is’ in English translates to ‘I am called’ in French; which is ‘Je m’appelle Sanji’.”

“So… Je m’appelle Amy?”  She attempted pronouncing it more like: _jee-ma-apple Amy._

“Oui, tres bien. But remember it is French so some letters flow into the others; say it like ‘ _je-ma-pell’_. Amy was getting bored. She really didn’t want Sanji’s help in French, she didn’t care about French. She just wanted to date a cute, **_rich_** , genius.

“It’s a bit distracting here. Maybe we could go to your house and you could teach me there?” She pulled her most innocent-looking face and blinked her big, dark eyes far more than usual. Sanji noticed that her eyelashes were incredibly long and black, which didn’t match at all with her almost white hair. He sighed, he couldn’t really refuse. It was a distracting Café, and he knew how much a quiet environment would help her learn; especially pronunciation.  His father wouldn’t be home until almost midnight, so he had plenty of time. She would only stay for about an hour, then he would have time to study and cook dinner. 

What Sanji didn’t realise, however, was that Amy had a hidden agenda. He was always blind when it came to women; he believed them to be innocent and pure. He could certainly not see the subtext under Amy’s words.

“Alright, we’ll leave once you’ve finished your milkshake.” Sanji smiled cheerfully.

“Thank you so much! My French will be much improved by tomorrow’s class.” She smiled sweetly, but her eyes stared blankly. Sanji was confused, she was smiling, but there was no emotion in her face at all. He frowned, there was something not right about her; but Sanji had no idea what it was.

Sanji paid for their drinks and thanked the nice waitress. He looked over the receipt to check the figures and sure enough, there was a message at the bottom:

_You’re hot, Call me: 046286218._

Sanji sighed. Everywhere he went girls would climb all over him. At school, at work, in random restaurants and cafes… The only place where he could be peacefully alone was his house. It was his sanctuary; and he was inviting a girl he just met into his sanctuary. Damn what was he thinking?!

“Is everything alright?” Amy asked watching Sanji stare down at the receipt.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” He lied, following Amy out the door and tossing the receipt in the rubbish bin. Amy grabbed his hand for the third time that day. She was coming on to him, fast. Sanji didn’t know what to do, he risked offending her if he pulled away, so he just took it like a gentleman. Well, like the gentleman he thought he was anyway. “So…” Sanji tried to break the awkwardness that he was clearly the only one feeling, “what’s your favourite colour?” It was one of his many back-up questions, he had used it on the Marimo and it seemed to work…ish.

“My favourite colour? Well… It’s… um… Pink?”

“You don’t sound very sure of yourself, my dear.” Sanji laughed nervously.

“That’s because I also like blue and yellow a lot.” There was a strong silence. All Sanji could think about was that Zoro liked blue too. He really wanted to know why the idiot dyed his hair green if his favourite colour was blue… He’ll have to ask him the next time they meet. Sanji waited for Amy to ask what his favourite colour was… But she never did.

“In French, pink is _rose_ , blue is _bleu_ and yellow is _jaune_.” Sanji tried to keep the conversation alive.

“That’s so cute!” She squeaked “So, are you, like, fluent in French?”

“Of course not. But I’m the best in the school. Many of the dishes at the Baratie are in French so I have a bit of a leg up over the other students. I study hard too.”

“Wait… So you’re rich and smart?”

“Well…” Sanji hated to think of himself as rich. His father owned a successful restaurant and they certainly had the cash to buy nice things, but it’s not like they lived in a mansion. “I guess, but I’m not really rich.”

“You’re not rich?” There was disappointment in Amy’s voice. Sanji began to think that she was only in this relationship for the money.

“Not really.” They walked soundlessly for some time. “So, whereabouts are you from?”

“Long beach, California.”

“Oh, it must be hot there...”

“Definitely not! Not compared to Australia! I’d never been in temperatures over a hundred, until I moved here. It’s been in the 90’s for a week! It’s soo hot! I don’t know how you stand it. Look at you, you’re wearing a suit!” The heat didn’t really bother Sanji, it did get hot. But he didn’t stop wearing suits unless it was at least 38oC.

“90’s? That’s over 32oC right? And 100 is about 37?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“So how hot does it get in long beach?”

“Only about 84 usually.” Sanji calculated in his head: 84 = 29oC. That wasn’t really hot, compared to the 35oC heat Sanji was used to.

They had reached Sanji’s house. It was a white and grey modern house with 2 stories. The garage and driveway dipped under the house, which connected to the inside. There was a white pebble path with stepping stones leading to the front door. The front lawn was neatly trimmed with small shrubs strategically planted along the outside.

“This is what you call not rich? Your house is so big!”

“Yeah, well I read somewhere that houses in Australia are generally bigger than other places in the world. Anyway, follow me.” Sanji led the blond to the living room and offered her a seat at the coffee table. “Can I get you something?” he offered on his way to the enormous open kitchen adjacent to the living room, “I can make you something to eat. A dish as sweet as you-” He swooned.

“I’ll just have some water, thanks.” Sanji grabbed a cold bottle of water out of the fridge and handed it to her. She struggled to untwist the lid, her fingers slid on the cap and left her hands red.

“Do you want me to open it?”

“Yes, please. Sorry.” She handed it back to him blushing.

“Don’t apologise my sweet!” Sanji twisted the cap effortlessly, it wasn’t even that tight. Maybe Amy was weak, or she was pretending to be? He handed the bottle and the lid back with a smile “Here you are dear. So, back to French, it should be much easier for you to learn here.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“So, would you like to start with learning names of things or phrases?”

 “I think I’ll remember phrases better.” She smiled.

“Well, you should know that hello is _bonjour_ , but it is sometimes replaced with _salut_ , which pretty much means hi. Did you want to write this down?”

“Oh, yeah sure.” She went to place her drink down on the table, but she knocked it over as she was pulling her hand away. Quite a difficult thing to achieve. The water spilt all over the table and onto the floor. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I’ll clean it.”

“No, no, it’s quite alright!” Sanji stood and rushed into the kitchen to get paper towels. He tore off several pieces and laid them over the patch of water on the floor and table. He was kneeling on the ground and using another piece to wipe off the excess water when he was grabbed by the shoulder and pushed back against the edge of the couch.

He took a sharp intake of breath. Amy had pinned him to the couch with both shoulders and was kneeling between his legs. His heart began to race and his face grew hot. He convinced himself that it was because she was very attractive. Not that he was scared. He was certainly not feeling anxiety or dread. She pushed him further back and leaned in closely to whisper in his ear.

“You’re hot. And stupid. Did you really think I wanted you to teach me French?” Sanji couldn’t reply, his mind was racing, all he could think about was the first time he kissed someone. He felt disgusted. There was no way he wanted to go through that again. But he couldn’t escape, he would never hurt a lady. Amy was inches from his face, she leaned in closer and pressed her lips to his.

Sanji didn’t move, his eyes were open and his arms remained stiffly by his side. There was no way this was happening again… how did he get himself into this? It was his stupid fault for agreeing to tutor her in the first place. He couldn’t reject her now; she would blame him for leading her on (he sort of did). The only thing he could do was take it like a man. 

The girl’s tongue pressed deeper into his mouth. He could taste a strong flavour of strawberries and steel. It was disgusting. Sanji cringed and closed his eyes. He moved his rigid arms and placed a loose hand on the back of Amy’s neck.

Amy took this as a sign and loosened Sanji’s tie, sliding the other hand under his shirt. He shook uncontrollably, but she refused to let up. She felt his chest for some time before she pulled away and whispered in his ear.

“You have nice abs.” She nibbled on his ear and reached both hands up his shirt. Sanji was silent. It took every ounce of his strength to not kick the poor girl back into the wall. He was determined to never hurt a lady. Especially since he hurt Rebecca so harshly. He took several deep breaths and kept his eyes tightly shut. _‘She’ll stop eventually. She’ll stop eventually.’_ He told himself over and over.

He tried to distract himself with thoughts of _anything_ else. But his mind was blank, the only thing he could think about right now was Amy’s saliva in his mouth and her hands on his chest. She was hot. Why couldn’t Sanji feel anything? He thought about how he was saved the first time he kissed someone…Oh that’s right it was the green haired idiot. His mind stopped racing. He thought about how the marimo had let him stay over when he was kicked out. He was too embarrassed the next morning to even speak to him, he left before the moss head woke up and avoided him at school all day. Where was that stupid Marimo when you needed him?

Sanji thought about Zoro’s strong body; his short, ruffled hair; his dark, persistent, eyes. He thought about his nonchalant attitude and his utter freedom. He thought about his elegantly chiselled abs, hiding under his tight suit. His defined collarbones peeking out from beneath his half unbuttoned shirt. He imagined those large, tough hands gliding over the smooth skin of his chest. He imagined his deep, guttural voice whispering his name…

All he could think about was Zoro. His distinct jawline and the three gold earrings dangling from his right ear. Sanji’s heart raced and pounded in his chest. He could barely breathe. He imagined his delicate hands pressing against Zoro’s superior form. Their bodies pushed tightly together. Sanji’s face burned up and blood rushed too low for his comfort.

He had almost completely forgotten about Amy. He was a horrible person. Making out with someone while thinking about someone else… it was almost like cheating. Or taking advantage of her.  There was a line and Sanji was drawing it here. He was a gentleman; he would never cheat. Sanji pushed back on Any’s shoulders, she leaned back.

 “Umm, my dad will be home soon,” he lied “you should go.” Amy didn’t seem upset at all.

“Okay, babe.” She smirked, stood up and grabbed her bag. “But I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sanji nodded.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” It was only appropriate since it was getting dark.

“No, I’m fine.” She called as she walked out the front door and closed it behind her.

Sanji stayed where he was, completely still and completely silent. Zoro was right, she was just like all the popular people; she saw an attractive, rich kid and she used him. Arrogant and self-righteous. He barely knew her but he had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker. What had he done? He had just gotten a girlfriend, and if he didn’t break up with her a.s.a.p, he would be forced into more situations like this. But that didn’t seem to bother him half as much as his own brain…Sanji didn’t know which was worse. Not wanting a beautiful woman to make out with you… or thinking about a man the whole time.

There was something seriously wrong with him.


	7. Love + Hate = Jealousy

School life was horrible for Zoro. He hated it. It was okay when he would fight with the swirly browed blond, but ever since Sanji got a girlfriend, he could never find him alone. Sanji was always with Amy. They were always holding hands or talking or she was sitting on his lap. It was gross. It took everything he had not to punch the stupid blond girl in the face.

He had been avoiding Sanji like the plague ever since he started dating her. He hated them. He hated Amy and he hated Sanji. Which was a lie; he still liked Sanji. But he hated the fact that he chose a random girl he just met; over Zoro. He liked to think that they were friends, but really, they weren’t. Zoro realised that the only times they had spent any time together was when they were alone. Sanji still wouldn’t be caught dead with a loser like Zoro. Even after everything that had happened between them.

“Okay class, write this down… Comparative anatomy compares the similarities in anatomy of different species. It is used to…” Zoro stopped listening as the red-headed Mr Shanks went on about evolution. Zoro spent most of biology staring at the manipulative bleach-blond in the front row. He hated her. Just looking at her was enough to make his blood boil. He was pretty sure that she was using Sanji for her own personal goals; but he needed proof. That’s when it dawned on him: he would follow her every day at school until he found out the truth…It’s not like he had anything better to do; actually, it would help him pass the time.

After class Zoro followed Amy and curly to the hall, where they were playing volleyball with other students. Groups of younger girls crowded the game and cheered whenever Sanji hit the ball. Amy watched her boyfriend closely from the sidelines and he would glance over and smile at her every now and then.

On the outside looking in, they seemed like a normal couple. But for some reason Zoro could tell that something was amiss. Whenever they held hands or displayed any other forms of affection, Sanji would be stiff. He would be completely awkward and unmoving; just like the time Zoro had walked in on him making out with a girl in a broom closet. It was almost like Sanji was disgusted; but when they weren’t touching, he was totally fine.

Zoro sighed. Who was he kidding? It wasn’t his place to meddle with their relationship. He would just have to come to terms with the fact that Sanji had a girlfriend, and he would probably never get the chance to talk to him alone again. He turned and went to leave; a loud cry emanated from behind him; it was swirls. What did he want?

The last thing he remembered before fading into unconsciousness was the squeak of runners on concrete and the agony in his head.

***

“Hey! Sanji! Let’s play volleyball at lunch! I want a rematch for the last time you beat me.” Luffy’s brother, Ace, walked up to him and pet him firmly on the shoulder. Sanji saw the fire in his eyes and couldn’t refuse.

“You bet! But prepare to lose again!”

“Ha! There’s no way you’re gonna beat me this time. I’ll bring the others and we can pick teams in the hall.” He walked off to class enthusiastically.

“Sanji-” a sweet voice called from behind him.

“Yes, my dear?” he turned; it was Amy. His heart sank and a shiver went down his spine. There was something very off about the look in her eyes.

“Are you going to sit with me at lunch?” She pleaded, sicking out her chest.

“Um- Well, I’m going to play volleyball with Ace and the others so I can’t. But you’re welcome to join in!”

“Ugh! Like I’d play sports.” She rolled her eyes. They had been dating for about a week and Sanji had already spent almost every waking hour with her. It was excruciating. Volleyball with his friends was just the break he needed. She tapped her foot on the ground vigorously, “Fine” She huffed, “I’ll just have to watch you then.” And without another word, she stomped away.

Sanji had become increasingly used to this now. She got what she wanted no matter what; that was the kind of person Amy was. She reminded him of a toddler when they have a tantrum. He was sick of it. But still, he couldn’t bring himself to break up with her. He had a feeling that it would mean trouble if he did.

Luffy bounded over to him after his marine biology class, but he was too slow. Amy had beaten him. And that was almost impossible; Luffy would almost always be waiting outside his room after class. He was constantly the first face he saw when arriving at school, and the last he would see before leaving. Until he started dating Amy; since then, Amy was practically the _only_ face he saw.

 “What!? How did you get here before me?!” Luffy whined at Amy. “Sanji’s mine! He’s the one who always gives me food!” He tried to break Amy’s grip on Sanji’s hand but she held tighter and pushed him away. Amy was hurting Sanji’s hand, and Sanji’s hands were precious to him.

“Come on Luffy. Let’s go to the hall. You can be on my team if you like.” Sanji tried to break the tension in the air. Amy didn’t really get along with his friends anymore; even Nami and Vivi seemed to dislike her now.

“Yeah!” he bounced away; Amy loosened her grip on Sanji’s hand. They walked in silence. Sanji noticed the distinct footsteps of a muscular man behind him. He smiled. He hadn’t really been avoiding Zoro since he imagined them…together… but he hadn’t spoken to him either. He felt like Zoro still hated him for being a popular jerk. It didn’t matter. His presence made Sanji’s anxiety subside temporarily.

Sanji heard people whispering about volleyball. This always happened when he played. Everyone seemed to think that his style was elegant; because he never used his hands. Technically you’re not allowed to play volleyball with your feet, but Ace made an exception for Sanji. He was the only one who could actually do it; it was quite difficult. Impossible for anyone but him.

They reached the hall and Sanji took off his jacket and tie; they would end up getting in the way. Ace waved him over and he joined him.

“I took the liberty of choosing the teams for you.” He gestured to the students on either side of the net “I tried to make them as fair as possible.” Sanji looked them over; on Ace’s team was Vivi, Franky, Usopp, and Law. And on Sanji’s team was Nami, Luffy, Chopper, and Kid. Law and Kid were seniors on the football team; they never really hung out with Sanji much. The teams seemed pretty fair.

“Looks good enough for me. Ready to get your ass kicked?”

“The only one with a sore ass is gonna be you.” He laughed back “You wanna serve first?”

“Nah, you’ve already got the ball.” And with that; the game began. Ace threw the ball high and hit it hard with his fist. Luffy, although the shortest member of the team next to chopper, can jump the highest, and so he tapped the ball in mid-air and sent it hurtling upwards. Sanji knew it was for him. He waited for the ball to be at the opportune height and jumped onto his hands. He hit it upwards with his foot and sent it tearing towards the ground just over the net. No one was fast enough to hit it back so it dropped onto the ground in front of Usopp.

“One-nil. Your serve.” Ace threw the ball over to Sanji. The moss head was watching him; he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His heart raced. His own girlfriend made him feel nothing; but lettuce made him nervous. He took several deep breaths, threw the ball into the air and flipped up on his hands connecting the back of his shoe with the volley ball. It flew across the hall at a tremendous speed.

The junior girls screamed at his cool moves and flexibility. Sanji glanced over at Zoro; he wasn’t looking, so he smiled at Amy instead. Sanji was disappointed. Why wasn’t the hulk looking at him? In fact, why was he looking at Amy? Sanji’s heartbeat increased… Why had the moss head followed them here? Why did he seem to despise their relationship? Could he…like Amy?

“Hey Sanji!” Nami screeched. The ball was flying towards his face. He had barely enough time to recklessly raise a leg and send the ball back. Stupid move. It flew over the heads of Ace’s team at an enormous speed. Zoro was leaving; his back was turned. The ball was heading straight towards him.

“WATCH OUT!” Sanji bellowed at him. Zoro began to turn, but it was too late. The ball hit him square on the side of the head and he hit the concrete hard. Sanji ran over, Zoro was unconscious and blood trickled from the side of his face… And it was _Sanji’s_ fault.

***

“Errrgh” Zoro moaned as he came to. His head pounded. Light flooded in and he was assaulted with the smell of ammonia. He tried to get up.

“Don’t get up.” Zoro couldn’t make out the blurry figure but he knew it was swirls. His voice was smooth and crusty…he could tell he was just smoking.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he questioned “and where the hell is here?”

“You were hit with the volleyball, and your head hit the ground hard” he paused, almost like he was struggling to admit what he was saying “You were knocked unconscious. We’re in the medical bay.” Sanji let the information sink in. He was sure that Zoro would yell at him, it was his fault after all…

“Who hit the ball at me?” Sanji swallowed loudly and prepared for the coming attack.

“me.”    Zoro burst out laughing! Sanji stared at him in disbelief. What the hell? He was sure that Zoro would’ve killed him.

“Ha Hah Haa… Guess you couldn’t beat me face to face huh? Had to resort to cheap tricks to beat me in a fight…” the moss smirked at him. “It’s on dartboard brow.” Sanji ignored his derogatory comment.

“It was an accident. The principal is calling your…” Sanji wasn’t sure if Zoro was ok with calling him ‘father’. Sanji never referred to Zeff as his father.

“Koshiro.” Zoro answered for him.

“Sorry.” Sanji was genuinely apologetic. He had knocked the moss out by being distracted by him. The bitter-sweet irony of life. At least he got to take a break from Amy… Thank god.

“Since when do you apologise to me, Love-brows?” Zoro sneered. Sanji smiled and looked out the window. It was a new nickname. He loved it. But of course, he would never admit that to anyone.

“Since I knocked you out.”

“What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“Well, I-” Sanji paused “I have French now… and I have to get away from her for a bit.” He sighed and Zoro could hear the exhaustion in his voice.

“Her? You mean Amy?”

“She’s just too demanding. We’ve only been dating for a week and she’s already picked out a matching suit and dress for the formal next year. Fuck it’s only march.” Sanji covered his face with his hands. What the hell was he doing? Telling Zoro of all people?

“If you don’t like her, why don’t you just dump her?” There was so much honesty in Zoro’s voice. He wasn’t conniving or implying anything, he was just saying it how it was. That’s why Sanji liked him so much. He was the only person in the school that he could trust to not tell anyone. Sanji sighed.

“I can’t dump her! It wouldn’t be fair to do that to a poor lady.” That was bullshit if Zoro had ever heard it. Utter crap and he wanted to throw it back in Sanji’s stupid face.

“But it’s fair on you to date someone you obviously can’t stand?” Zoro was right, it wasn’t fair. But he couldn’t just leave her out in the cold…he was a gentleman and Amy deserved better than that. He could take a few more months of her if it meant he didn’t have to hurt her feelings.

“She’ll break up with me eventually. Plus, if I dump her after a week people with think I’m a player and I’ll lose rapport.” Sanji sighed. Zoro was growing angrier by the second. What was making this conversation so excruciating was the fact that Sanji _believed_ every word he was saying. Not only did he believe it, but he actually _cared_ that people would think less of him. Zoro had had enough. Enough of Sanji; enough of Amy; enough of popularity and enough of reputations. Sanji was literally forcing himself to date someone because he was afraid of losing his ‘fan club’.

Meanwhile Zoro was trying to boost his grades so he wouldn’t get kicked out of the school; his family could barely afford the house they were staying in. And Sanji had the nerve to complain about his stupid problems? It was like the curly browed blond was flaunting his money and power in Zoro’s face.

“You make me sick. Get out of my sight.” Zoro growled. Sanji was shocked… he didn’t think he had done anything to upset the granny smith. He glanced over at him; his eyes were cold and hard, and his expression murderous. What had he done?

“What’s your problem?” Sanji questioned sarcastically.

“You’re my problem.” Zoro’s head began to throb ceaselessly. His vision became slightly blurred; but he didn’t care. Sanji had really pissed him off. Ever since Sanji began dating Amy, Zoro had been pissed at him; but since he found out he was only dating Amy because he was forced to…. Zoro had become furious at him! Zoro’s head was in agony. He couldn’t take the sight of Sanji’s stupid face any more.

Zoro jumped up from the bed and ran over to Sanji. He grabbed his jacket by the lapels with both hands and push him up against the wall. Sanji didn’t have time to mount a defence and absorbed the full force of the impact. The grass top was glaring daggers at him. Sanji had _never_ seen him like this. Zoro huffed through his gritted teeth and began to lift Sanji off the ground by his collar. Sanji needed to get out of there fast. He threw a leg up and planted it firmly on the marimo’s chest. It was just insurance, if he used it, he would most likely send the idiot to hospital.

“Put me down.” Sanji glared back; he was truly terrified by the strength of the moss-head. It was like he held back in every fight they had ever had. Zoro made no effort to put him down. It was getting harder for the blond to breathe; he had no choice but to fight back. He threw force into his leg and sure enough Zoro flew back across the room and landed effortlessly on his feet. His disposition was unfaltering. Zoro came at Sanji again with a renewed vigour and landed a right uppercut to his stomach. Sanji doubled over in pain. he was sparing no force. Not even Zoro himself knew what he was thinking. It was like a tumour was growing inside him the whole time; burning every cell in his body until it finally took control and turned him into a fiery beast.  And that tumour, was called jealousy.

The blond retaliated with a flurry of kicks aimed at Zoro’s chest. A few of them hit; they would definitely leave a mark. But Sanji was just building up to a final, double-legged, flying kick that found its mark on Zoro’s stomach. There was a rather loud crack, and he flew across the room and hit the opposing wall; he slid down and sat on the ground. Sanji couldn’t see his face, but he knew a few of Zoro’s ribs were broken. Zoro began to get up again.

“Stop it! I don’t want to hurt you anymore!” Sanji cried at him. He was being an idiot and Sanji would have none of it. He went to leave, but Zoro threw a medicine jar and hit Sanji’s hand as he reached for the door knob. The glass broke and sliced Sanji’s hand. His _hand_. _His hands were precious to him._

He wanted it to stop. Sanji cradled his injured hand. He was furious. He threw his legs at Zoro recklessly. But Zoro dodged easily and clobbered Sanji in the ribs again…there was a break; Zoro could feel it.

“Argh!” Sanji yelled out in pain. He tasted blood in his mouth.

“What on Earth is going on in here?!” Mr Iceberg barged in. The room was a mess. The bookshelf that had once stood against the wall opposite the bed was on the floor, books were spread everywhere and Sanji was clearly nursing a severe cut. Their other injuries were not noticeable.

Zoro regretted hurting Sanji. He was a stupid idiot. Violence would only make things worse. Zoro could tell that Sanji was holding back tears. But Zoro didn’t understand…he looked like he cared more about a cut to the hand than a broken rib.

“I’m sorry.” Zoro whispered to Sanji. He knew that he was going to get in big trouble for this. They would probably end up taking away his scholarship. He hated himself for being such an asshole. “I--” Zoro tried to explain to the principal “I- attacked--”

“He saved me!” Sanji interrupted standing up and dusting himself off. “I was fooling around with the bookcase when it fell on me. The stupid Marimo picked it up… But I cut my hand on a bottle that fell.” Zoro looked down. He couldn’t face looking at Sanji or the Principal. Why had the blond done that for him? He would’ve gotten expelled… So why did he save him like that?

“Well, Mr Roronoa, I came to say your father is here and ready to take you home. I’ll go get the doctor for your hand Mr Black.” The principal left and Koshiro walked in. Just what he needed right now….

“Are you alright Zoro?” Koshiro asked politely.

“Tch. I’m fine.” Zoro waved him off. It was Sanji that was injured. But he had a feeling that they hated each other now. “Let’s just go already.” He followed Koshiro out of the building to the front of the school where the car was waiting for them. Zoro’s entire body was aching; it took all the energy he had not to limp. He was sure that a couple of his ribs were broken; but there was no way in hell he would tell Koshiro that. They didn’t have the kind of money to fork out medical bills for Zoro’s stupid actions. They drove in silence for nearly the whole trip.

“So, the principal told me that you were knocked out while playing volleyball?” Koshiro asked nicely. 

“I wasn’t playing. I was just watching.”

“I’m proud of you. For helping that student when the book case fell on him.” Zoro clenched his teeth. Koshiro rarely gave praise and when he did it always seemed to be at the wrong time. Zoro didn’t help anyone. He was just an asshole who picked a fight with another kid…But then why did Sanji cover for him?

They arrived home; Zoro ran inside and quickly climbed the stairs to his room. It was past 3 o’clock, Kuina would be home any second. She would ask him a bunch of questions about his injury, which she always did. Nothing slipped past her. Zoro just hoped he would be able to hide his broken ribs.

“Hey! Dumbass! I heard you managed to get knocked out with a volley ball!” Kuina burst through the door and began to laugh as she saw the bandage wrapped around Zoro’s head. “Hahaa! Oh my god. It’s true! I thought it was a stupid rumour.”

“Shut up!” Zoro rolled over painfully and hid his face from her. But Kuina’s eyes were too keen, she saw the awkward way Zoro had moved his body.

“What’s wrong with you?” She walked over and poked him in the abdomen, just under his sixth rib on the right side. A stabbing pain shot through Zoro’s body and he groaned loudly. Zoro hit Kuina’s hand away and attempted to sit up; but his movement was too fast. He grimaced and clutched his ribs with his arms, cradling his injury. “You have a broken rib, don’t you?” Kuina was well acquainted with that type of pain; the two of them had broken each other’s ribs on several occasions. Zoro sighed, she would have found out eventually.

“Yeah. But don’t tell Koshiro!” He pleaded, pulling on Kuina’s hand and begging with his eyes. “I don’t need him on my back about fighting at school again.” She clearly wasn’t convinced. Her eyes were distant and she was standing stiffly wat attention. “Please. It was a dumb mistake! Kuina?” He implored. She sighed and sat down on the bed next to him.

“Zoro, please don’t fight anymore. They’ll take away your scholarship and we’ll have to move schools again. I really like it here please don’t make us move again.” She was pleading to Zoro. Kuina loved his little brother no matter what. Even though she knew that they weren’t related, Kuina was the only one who was allowed to beat him up. When they sparred was the _only_ time she would allow another person to touch him. She was his big sister and she had to protect him. No matter what. “Who did this to you, Zoro?”

“No one.” Zoro defended quickly. “It was me who started it.”

“I need to know. I’ll apologise to them tomorrow on your behalf… So they don’t tell the principal. Please Zoro.” He sighed.

“It…. It was the stupid curly-browed blonde!” Zoro’s chest tightened. He didn’t mean the things he did. He was just an asshole who acted before he thought it through. “Please tell him that I’m sorry for hurting his hand; but I still think he’s trying too hard.”

“Who? Sanji Black? You beat up the most popular kid in school!? If he tells anyone about this, you’ll be expelled for sure! Don’t worry I’ll handle it. I’ve gotta look after my baby brother after all…” She rubbed her hand on Zoro’s head, who winced and flicked her hand away.

“Just, don’t do anything that I would do…” she stood and walked towards the door “oh, and Kuina?”

“Yeah?” she turned and glanced back at him.

“Thanks. For always sticking up for me.” She laughed and flicked her short blue hair as she glided out of the room. Zoro smiled to himself. His older sister was intelligent and cunning enough that he would always end up trusting her to fix the messes he made. But then again, she never really did things the way people expected her to. Zoro was sure that Kuina would be able to repair what little rapport there was between lettuce and swirls… but he was also sure that it would involve something a little more than a simple apology.


	8. A Deal's a Deal

Zoro awoke he next morning with a shooting pain in his ribs, his head was in agony and he felt like death. But he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t tell Koshiro, so he just had to take some Panadol and pretend everything was fine. It wasn’t. He hated himself, but he was pretty sure that Sanji hated him more.

Kuina was already gone by the time Zoro left his room. He was going to be late; he really didn’t give a shit.

***

Sanji sat up slowly and painfully in his bed. It was early; the sun wasn’t up. He had an incredibly difficult time hiding his injuries from Zeff last night. But he managed to… the hardest one was his hand. The doctor at school had to give him half a dozen stiches just to stop the bleeding. Sanji held his jacket over his arm the whole time he was with Zeff so he wouldn’t notice the bandage. He was still grounded. He wasn’t allowed to work.

He unwrapped the white cloth dressing and stared at the cuts on his hand. Damn, it was bad. There were small cuts littered over the flesh of his fingers and palm; while a few deeper cuts had black stiches sticking out. His skin was swollen and there were red rims around the wounds. He sighed. He blamed himself for his injuries. He aggravated the moss head and so he paid the price. Sanji felt he deserved it; for knocking the moss head out, for being such a jerk to him all the time, and just generally for being an asshole. The only person who could teach Sanji a lesson was Zoro, because he was the only one who could beat him in a fight. And so Sanji believed that the universe was trying to punish him by sending that moss-for-brains, idiot to do the work. But Zoro certainly didn’t leave the fight unscathed.

Wait… what was he thinking? He didn’t deserve this! He may have pissed off that stupid green oaf, but it was Zoro’s **choice** to attack him. What did he say to the bastard to piss him off so much, anyway? He just said that he wouldn’t have to worry about people spreading rumours if Amy broke up with him. What was so horrifying in that?

Sanji couldn’t wrap his brain around the moss head. One second he’s as calm as the pacific, the next he’s a god damn tsunami. There was really no telling what he would do. And apparently, there was no telling what Sanji would do either; because in the split second before Zoro took the fall for his injuries, Sanji covered for him. And he had no idea why.

That was a lie. He knew why.  But he hated to admit that, from what Sanji had seen of lettuce, he was actually a caring person. They fought about everything. But if Sanji managed to put aside his differences for one second, he could see that Zoro legitimately cares about people. Zoro let him borrow a pen last year, when they hated each other. Zoro basically saved Sanji’s life when he was having a panic attack. Zoro let him stay at his house when he was kicked out. All while the moss head hated his guts. And yes, Zoro did beat him up, but Sanji thought that maybe he did deserve it.

While he had been a stupid rich idiot, too caught up in his own problems to care about others; Zoro had been in all the right places and all the right times to help him. He was a stubborn jerk and Zoro didn’t deserve his hatred. He silently agreed to himself that no matter what, he would be kinder to Zoro, because he had practically saved him. Every time Sanji was stressed or anxious he would close his eyes and imagine that he was a fish swimming in the sea and inhaling the water. And every time, he would think of Zoro’s calm, deep voice and heavy arms lifting him up and telling him not to be afraid. He needed Zoro. Perhaps not the physical person, but the idea; the memory of him. And Sanji had no fucking clue why.

As Sanji made his breakfast and packed his school bag. The phone rang. He didn’t have to guess to know who it was. It was Amy. She called at 7:25am every morning on the dot. He was sick of it. But he picked up anyway.

“Hello, my sweet.”

“Hi Handsome! I heard that a bookcase fell on you yesterday and you went home early! Oh my gosh are you alright?!”

“I’m fine. I just got a little cut that’s all.” Sanji lied, his ribs were broken. But he knew that Amy didn’t care.

“Good. So now that that’s cleared up, I want to talk to you about the football game coming up soon-”

“You know I don’t like football.” Sanji interrupted. He hated how she was so self-centred.

“Ugh! If you can't even be bothered to go to the game with me, I don't even know what I'm getting from this relationship!” Sanji sighed. This is what Amy does. She calls, belittles, insults and guilts you into doing what she wants. She gets her way. “You’d be a much better person if you just spent more time with me. Also, where were you last night? I came by your house but you didn’t answer the door!”

“I was here. What time did you come over?”

“About 11:34.” About? Sanji massaged his temples, he was getting a headache. Amy came over last night at almost midnight, completely uninvited, and frankly, unwanted.

“I was probably asleep. I’m sorry.”

“You should be sorry! I made all the effort of coming over, and I made you some soup because I thought you were hurt from the bookcase!” Now Sanji felt bad. He didn’t mean to be rude, he had no idea she went to all that effort.

“I’m so sorry, my sweet, I hope I can make it up to you!”

“Yeah, we’ll see.” She spoke coldly, but there was something hidden in the voice Sanji didn’t hear. It was victory. Cunning, manipulative, planning. It was Amy’s goal all along to ridicule and guilt Sanji into whatever she wanted. Because she wanted him. All of him. She wanted to get rid of all his friends and keep him for herself. Because, she would be the most popular person in the school, no matter who she had to ruin to get there. **That,** was who Amy was. And there was no getting rid of her now.

“I have to go to school now, babe. I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye, beautiful.” Sanji hung up and collected his things. All he was thinking about on the trip to school was how he was going to tell Zeff he cut his hand.

***

Zoro was having a shit day. By the time he got to school first period was already over. He missed HPE. The **only** subject in school he actually liked! Then had to go to stupid Japanese class. He didn’t really care about learning another language, except if he passed it he would get a bonus op point. Which is a _huge_ deal when he gets up to year 12. He sat through another boring lesson, without learning a thing and continued along on the train wreck he called his life. His head ached and his swollen abdomen only hurt him every fucking time he breathed! He couldn’t take a step or a breath of fresh air without a stabbing pain that shot through his entire body. He had swallowed a whole box of ibuprofen before lunch, and it was doing nothing.

Zoro needed to rest. He could barely last out the day. So he went to the only place he could be alone. The roof. It was the only place he could find without getting lost. It was like he had a sixth sense to find that place no matter where he was in the school.

He pulled down the folding staircase and climbed into the dusty roof space. He glanced over at the old couch, and as he first suspected. It was occupied. By Sanji. He was lying with his eyes closed breathing shallowly. A large gel icepack covered his chest.

“You know you should try to breathe normally, even with a broken rib, so you don’t get a chest infection.” Sanji opened his eyes and glanced at Zoro. And that’s when he saw it. One of the blonde’s eyes was purple and swollen. Sanji couldn’t open it properly, he strained to stare at Zoro but soon gave up and closed his eyes again. Zoro did not do that to him. He may have been a jerk who broke some of his ribs but the face was off limits. Zoro knew that, and Sanji somehow knew that too. No matter how many times they fought they never, ever, stuck the face.

The first thing that came into Zoro’s mind was that Sanji’s father (who he didn’t know) had learnt that Sanji had gotten in a fight and hit him. Zoro was furious. He could barely hide his anger.

“Who did that to you?” Sanji couldn’t believe the nerve on this green idiot!

“What do you mean who did this?!” He shouted leaving his eyes closed. “Go and ask your sister!!” Sanji fought for air.

“What!?” Zoro couldn’t believe it. “Kuina did that to you?”

“Yeah, asshole! She told me to stop picking on her little brother. So, what now? You need your big sis to win your fights for you?!” Sanji slurred his words, he was struggling to breathe.

“Hey, I didn’t tell her to do that!” Sanji began to cough uncontrollably. He gave off a gargling sound between coughs and gasps for air. Zoro ran over to him and tried to help.

“Don’t touch me! I’m fine!” he half gargled- half slurred. He was definitely not fine. Zoro picked him up by the shoulders as he struggled and scratched at him. Sanji contacted Zoro’s face and scratched off the skin in a neat line from his cheek bone to his jaw. Lettuce didn’t seem to notice the blood dripping down his face. He continued to lift Sanji until the top half of his body was sitting upright and his legs were lying flat. He took the ice pack and held it to Sanji’s black eye. Dartboard brow winced, but stopped struggling.

“Screw you.” Sanji coughed into his face. “There is no way I can hide this from my old geezer and he’s gonna be pissed! I’ll have to tell him about the fight, and he’ll probably track you down and beat the shit out of you.”

“It’s not my fault my dumb sister beat you up!”

“You beat me up first you asshole!” Zoro was severely hurt by this remark, it was entirely true, but he felt mortified that he had done something this horrible to Sanji without the least provocation. Except he couldn’t show that he was affected at all by the stupid comment.

“Well, you were being a stupid swirly idiot!” Zoro Shouted. Sanji pushed him by the shoulders and he landed butt- first on the floor. He grimaced and clutched at his abdomen.

At that moment the folding staircase opened and Ms Kalifa walked in. And of course, one look at the situation and the vice principal assumed the obvious: they were fighting. Zoro’s face was still dripping with blood and the red liquid ran down his neck soaking his uniform. And Sanji had a black eye. Ms Kalifa was furious! She immediately called the nearest teachers to help drag the students straight to the principal’s office. Their parents were called at once. It was the worst nightmare for both Lettuce and Swirls.

***

“I am severely disappointed in you Zoro.” Koshiro was not happy, sitting in the crowded office with Mr Iceberg, Sanji and Zeff. Zoro sank in his seat. Koshiro was always disappointed in him, no matter what he did he was never good enough. However, it was his fault and he was ready to come to terms with the fact that he was going to be expelled and kicked out of home all in one day. He knew it. He could feel it.

“All this is that little brat’s fault for insulting eggplant!!” Zeff towered over everyone pointing at Zoro and defending Sanji.

“I think we should hear both sides of the story Mr Black!” Mr Iceberg stood and motioned for Zeff to sit, but he continued to stand.

“I don’t think this was entirely Zoro’s fault, Mr Black.” Koshiro interjected politely.

“Rubbish! Look at his black eye! You can’t tell me that your dumb son didn’t do this!”

“Actually he didn’t do this!” Sanji tried to shout over the voices of everyone trying to defend themselves and their family. Zeff and Mr Iceberg shouted at each other while Koshiro would politely defend Zoro, who would just sink a little deeper in his chair every time.

Unexpectedly, Kuina burst through the door and silenced everyone with a whistle. Zoro gaped at his sister’s giant smirk and knew that this couldn’t possibly end well for him.

“Sit down!!” She shouted, and surprisingly, it worked. Zeff, Mr Iceberg, Sanji and Koshiro all sat quietly in their chairs. “Now. I don’t know what happened. But I’m sure we can sort this out. Zoro, Sanji I want you to fix this like proper adults. Go into the waiting room and talk it out. After 5 minutes, you’ll come back and make an agreement to stop fighting once and for all. Can you do that, without beating the crap out of each other?” Kuina stood perfectly straight, with purpose, and spoke with fluent urgency. This is the exact sort of speaking that got her the job as student council president. No decision is made in this school without going through Kuina.

The two teens stood slowly and walked into the empty waiting room. They heard the door close behind them and could hear Mr Iceberg and their parents begin to talk.

“Well, Fuck.” Zoro sat on a chair in the corner of the room and thought about his impeding expulsion. It was his fault after all. “It’s okay if you hate me. I did beat you up.” Sanji had no idea what to do. He didn’t hate the Marimo, so he just laughed. It was a one third laugh – one third cough- one third gasp for air sort of thing. Zoro couldn’t help smiling at the blond trying to be optimistic in their situation.

“I beat you up too.” He smiled at Zoro, the cut on his face was clean and covered with a large band aid. Sanji was holding an ice pack on his eye. He struggled to sit with his injured ribs and began breathing shallowly.

“Just take a few deep breaths every now and then. It’ll hurt like a bitch but it’s good for you. And here.” Zoro reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of ibuprofen, and handed Sanji a couple and some water. “It’ll do shit for the pain, but the swelling will go down.”

“Thanks.” Sanji took the pills. “I don’t hate you, you know?”

“Then you’re an idiot. Look what I did to your hand.” Sanji looked at the series of skin coloured adhesive strips he had covered the scratches with. He was just trying to cover up the injury as much as he could. Sanji stared for some time. And Zoro stared at Sanji; he seemed sad. Like he had lost everything he had ever owned, not just gotten a few scratches on his hand. “I’m sorry. Once I get expelled you won’t ever have to talk to me again. You stupid golden spiral.” Sanji smiled. Zoro was the only fucking person on the entire planet that could turn the beauty of the divine proportion into an insult.  He loved to hate the guy.

“There’s no way I’m letting you get expelled. You’re the only fun I have around here.” He smirked at mossy. Zoro’s heart forgot to beat for a second. Or was it his mind? He had no clue. All he knew was that the feeling he’s had for the blond since year 7, had never left. Except now, he was closer than ever to the pascal swirl. “Actually, I’m sorry. You have a knack for showing up at the worst times. And you always end up saving my sorry ass. From now on, I’ll try not to be such a pretentious jerk.”

“Ha! And I’ll try not to beat your ass up!” Sanji laughed at Zoro’s jive.

“As I recall, I broke a few of _your_ ribs too.” And in a second, they were back to where they began. With stupid grins and insults. Except they had gone through more than anyone would ever know.

“You can come back now.” Kuina called from the hallway leading to the office. This was the moment that Zoro had dreaded the most; they had come to a decision. And he was pretty damn sure that this was the end of his schooling career. Sanji walked slowly behind him as they headed to the open door, and whispered from behind.

“If they expel you. They’ll have to expel me too.” It was a stupid way to try to make the situation better, but somehow it worked. At least Zoro wouldn’t be the only one.

“We have come to a decision.” Mr Iceberg began sitting behind his desk littered with papers and folders. “Myself, Mr Black and Mr Koshiro are willing to overlook this incident, if you two can come to the agreement to stop all fighting.” That’s all they had to do? Agree to stop fighting and it was done? No punishment? It was the best deal they could have ever gotten! Zoro was rejoicing on the inside. He looked to Kuina who was leaning against the window, behind the principal, that overlooked the courtyard. She had the biggest smirk on her face. Like all of this was planned by her.

The black eye was simply a rouse to get them to where she wanted to be. Now that Zoro thought about it, it was rather convenient that Ms Kalifa happened to come into the roof at the precise time they were there. It didn’t matter; Kuina had caused a small amount of pain to benefit in the long run- she wanted a complete pardon of all previous incidences. And she got it. She also wanted a guarantee of no further incidence – and she was about to get it. From the five minutes she was in the room listening to the testimonies of Koshiro and Zeff, she had deduced that neither Zoro nor Sanji were people that would go back on their word. Their absolute stubbornness was what got them into this in the first place. And so Kuina was 100% satisfied that if she made them agree to stop fighting, they would.

“That’s it?” Sanji questioned, suspiciously.

“Yes. If you both agree and shake hands, we will leave this to rest. However, if you fight once more significant action will be taken against the both of you. Do you understand?”

“Yeah. So, we just shake hands?” Zoro questioned turning to face Sanji.

“Yes, and say that you agree to stop fighting indefinitely.”

“I agree to stop fighting with the moss head, indefinitely.” Sanji sneered thrusting his uninjured hand forward. Zoro smiled at him.

“And I agree to not beat up pascal swirls again.” Zoro returned Sanji’s mischievous grin.

“A deal’s a deal, moss brain, you sure you want to do this?”

“Of course.” Zoro shook Sanji’s hand firmly. That was it. There was no more fighting with Sanji. Zoro was sullen, he knew that he may have just lost the only reason that they ever spoke to each other. The very first time they met they fought – and pretty much every other time after that. What was Zoro going to do now? There was no way he could entertain his hot, genius crush with his intellectual prowess; because he didn’t have any. The only thing Zoro had going for him was his fighting, and now it was forbidden. His demeanour sunk; yet he smiled. He gave Sanji the biggest smirk he was capable of. Because now, he just had to find other ways of burrowing his way into the blonde’s life. The fight wasn’t over. It had just begun.


	9. Project Grasshopper

It was math; they were still learning calculus, and Sanji was still grounded. He hadn’t gone to work in over a week and it was killing him. He has had so much time to catch up on his school work he didn’t even have to listen in class. He already knew exactly what the teacher was teaching, and he could even pick out short comings in Mr Smoker’s teaching method. Sanji was such an expert in all his classes that he could basically teach the class himself. Sometimes he wished he could, especially in French; Mr Clay seemed like he had no idea about the French language, sometimes he had trouble remembering what came after three. It’s quatre.

Sanji sighed quietly. At least Amy wasn’t in the same math class as him. every class they were together was torture. She would sit there and chat to him the whole time, and in English, she would even sit on his lap. Which the teacher didn’t seem to mind?! It was excruciating!

He laughed to himself. The look on the moss’s face in every English class was priceless. As soon as Amy walked in, he scowled like an animal. Sometimes the blond wanted to scowl at Amy too. But she’d probably slap him.

Since they’d agreed to stop fighting only yesterday, everything had returned to the way it was in year 10. Zoro would sit in the middle of the class and not say a word, and Sanji would sit behind him. and annoy the heck out of him. It was great.

Mossy was sleeping at the moment. His head rested gently on his folded arms, and he breathed faintly. It was cute. His face was peaceful, and the scratch Sanji had given to him was on full display. Sanji had changed the part in his hair to the other side of his face to hide his black eye. It had worked expertly, and not a single person had noticed. Except Zoro of course.

“What’s with the scratch on grass-head’s face?” The red-head whispered beside him.

“I heard it was because of some epic sword battle that he got into.” Vivi giggled from behind.

“Ha! That loser? No way.” Nami replied deadpan. Sanji said nothing. He was annoyed. But he couldn’t exactly tell them that _he_ had scratched the moss’s face. “I heard that he got into so many fights with another kid that they were taken to the principal’s office and forced to agree never to fight again. His sister planned the whole thing. They probably would have gotten expelled.” Sanji sank in his seat. “I wish he had gotten expelled. Then we wouldn’t have to stare at the back of his ugly head every math lesson.” She sneered menacingly.

“Who was it?” Vivi asked excitedly. She always loved to know the latest gossip.

“I heard it was a junior.” Sanji interjected quickly, trying to shift any suspicions off himself. He still couldn’t be caught dead with Zoro around the other students.  

What they didn’t know however, was that Zoro was not asleep. He was simply observing the room, with his ears. It’s not like he could have done the complex calculus anyway. So he was lying on his desk listening to Sanji’s little conversation with his friends.

“So anyway, a bunch of us are going over to Luffy’s house tonight – Usopp, Vivi, Franky, Ace and I. We wanted to know if you’re going to tag along?” Nami leaned her head closer to Sanji.

“No, I can’t, sorry guys, I’m grounded.” Sanji whispered glancing up at the white board and writing down the question Mr Smoker had written.

“You’re grounded?! How?” Vivi learned forwards from behind them. Sanji had forgotten that he didn’t tell anyone. Except Amy; but even then, he never told her why, and she never asked. The longer he thought about it the more he realised that the only person who knew the truth was the dumb moss sleeping like a baby on the desk in front of him.

“It doesn’t matter.” Sanji shrugged and began solving the equation.

“Of course it matters!” Nami swung her leg under the table and kicked Sanji in the shin lightly. “Why didn’t you tell us? What did you do?” Sanji was struggling for an answer. He couldn’t tell them the truth, and he couldn’t lie to them. He didn’t like lying to anyone.

“I- I” He began stammering, oh shit. His mouth couldn’t form words at all. He really couldn’t lie to them. Nami would tell straight away and then she would dig. She would poke and prod holes in your story until all you could do was submit to her. No wonder she wanted to become a lawyer. You couldn’t lie to her.

It was at that moment that Zoro realised he needed to save the stupid jerk. So he drew attention away from Sanji the only way he knew how. Annoying everyone. He lifted his head slowly and yawned loudly, stretching his arms and running his hands through his hair. The class stared at Zoro.

“What? Did I miss something funny?” He squinted at the bright room and rubbed his eyes. Mr Smoker was furious.

“RORONOA ZORO!” Shit this was not great. “YOU ARE FAILING MY CLASS AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY, NO THE STUPIDITY, TO NOT ONLY SLEEP IN CLASS, BUT DISTURB THE REST OF THE STUDENTS THAT ARE TRYING TO LEARN!” Zoro regretted trying to help dumb swirly. He regretted everything. Shit he was so screwed. “Zoro, if you cannot pass by the end of this semester I’ll be forced to move you into Math ‘A’” The white haired giant sighed, he was just trying to help a lost cause.

“No, you can’t do that sir! I’ll lose my scholarship!” Zoro stood and leant his hands on his desk. The class burst out laughing, they sneered and snickered around him but Zoro couldn’t hear it. That scholarship was the only thing keeping him in school. His family could barely afford the food that they ate. Sanji was the only student not laughing. He grew angrier by the second at the childish cruelty he saw every day.

“You refuse to pay attention in class, and you have failed all the exams, so unless you can find a student who is willing to tutor you, I’m afraid there is no other choice.” Zoro’s heart shattered. There was no way he could study at university if he didn’t get in by a sporting scholarship, and the only way to do that was by finishing school. “Is anyone in this class willing to teach Mr Roronoa calculus?” The room fell silent in an instant. Everyone looked away from Zoro, not able to meet his face as they stabbed him in the back.

“I will, sir.” The blond raised his hand while the class gaped at him. The smartest and most popular kid in school agreed to teach the dumbest and lamest? There was no way! The class burst out in a fit of laughter, they thought it was a joke. Sanji’s face was deadpan as he looked Zoro in the eyes. He stood.  “I’m not kidding.” Sanji’s voice was cold and deadly. He was not in the mood for their shit today. “And you should be ashamed of yourselves!” He shouted around himself. The room was as silent as a vacuum in a second, with the same overwhelming sense of emptiness. So much for not being caught dead with the moss head. But oh well. He couldn’t just stand by and watch him fail miserably.

“Well, I’m sure you two can figure things out at a later date. But I hope you realise the difficulty of the situation… Mr Black, you have 5 weeks to teach him complex calculus or I will move him.”

“I understand sir. I’m sure I’ll find a way to make him pay attention.” He smirked to Zoro, who only stared back in disbelief.

*DING* *DONG* *DONG* *DING* The class burst into action like a sudden ambush and scuffled out the door.

“Make sure you read through chapter 8 on page 267 and attempt the questions on page 272!” Mr Smoker had to call through the door to the students, who didn’t look like they heard him anyway. It was lunch, no kid in their right mind would stay behind in _math_ after the bell went. Except Sanji and Zoro.

“Come on!” Sanji grabbed the giant wall of muscle by the wrist and dragged him out of the room. He resisted for a second before submitting and walking along with the blond. It was nice. Although, Sanji wished that the muscular idiot didn’t have such a huge frown on his face. He was kinda killing the mood Sanji was in.

Whatever. Sanji had made an internal deal to help lettuce about twice now… And he was starting _now_. His first mission: teach the dumb marimo math. He would call it: Project Grasshopper. The way Sanji saw it the marimo needed a C in five weeks. Which means – he needed to teach him simple calculous; basically, the product rule, chain rule, quotient rule and quadratic formula. Simple derivatives, rate of change (instantaneous and average), delta, simple integration, and the area above and below the curve. Which may or may not include graphing parabolas, turning points, finding equations of lines, or the x and y intercepts. He sighed. There was a lot of fucking work.

They had walked about 30 meters before Zoro yanked his hand back from the blonde’s grip. Predicting the marimo’s upcoming question: ‘where the fuck are you taking me swirly-brows?’ Sanji answered the question before it was asked.

“I’m taking you to the library. So, quit complaining and just follow me. Unless you want to get kicked out of this school.” Zoro said nothing. Sanji walked towards the library in silence with moss following along behind. Thankfully the library is always pretty quiet, which means Sanji could teach math and lay low of his controlling girlfriend for a break. It was a win-win for the both of them!

They walked through the glass doors and into the air-conditioned room in silence. It was a baron place. There were several dozen computers filled with students studying for exams or playing games, in the computer lab at the back. But the tables that filled the middle of the room were empty, and the rows of bookshelves at that surrounded them were vacant as well. It’s not surprising, most people avoided the library because anyone caught there would be labelled as a ‘nerd’. Which was crap, Usopp started that trend when he called his good friend Chopper a nerd for studying at lunch. Usopp never meant it as an insult, and chopper didn’t think twice about it. But it was too late, someone overheard them and it turned into a craze. Practically no one went in for fear of being picked on by other students. And those that actually did either didn’t know about it, or didn’t care. Sanji was the latter.

The blue plastic chair squeaked when Zoro pulled it out from under the red circular desk, he sat ungracefully, and winced slightly at his broken ribs. Sanji noticed, and learnt from the moss’s mistake, choosing to sit slowly and carefully. He smirked at Zoro who glared back.

“So what do you want, stupid swirly-eyes?”

“What does it look like?” He reached into his black back-pack and pulled out his math book and pencil case. “I’m tutoring you in math.”

“Why?” Zoro sneered. “I thought you’d want me out of your class.” He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest like a four year old.

“Where the hell d’you get that idea?” Sanji was genuinely disturbed. Only yesterday they had agreed to stop fighting, but overnight they had gone back to their old ways. Where they would snicker, tease and insult each other until they inevitably ended up in a fight.

“You.” Zoro stared directly into Sanji’s uncovered eye. “You think I wouldn’t notice you changed your hair to cover your black eye? And you hide your right hand too. In your jacket pocket. You’ve even started to write with your left hand.” Zoro looked to Sanji’s left hand that was holding a greylead to the open notebook. He sighed regretfully. “I get it. You don’t want people to find out. And you purposely ignore me in every single contact we have. You hate me, and that’s fine. But then you go and pull this bullshit--” Zoro ran his right hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t understand. If you hate me, just ignore me like everybody else. If you hate me, just walk away right now and we can never speak to each other again.”

Sanji was dumbstruck. He hadn’t realised it was tearing Zoro apart like this. But the moss was right. Sanji couldn’t just go on ignoring lettuce when it suited him and recognising him whenever he felt like it. Not once, not one single time had Zoro ignored him. And not once had Zoro refused to help him when he needed it. Fuck. Zoro was just a really stand-up guy, and there was no way Sanji could compete with that. In fact, Zoro was the most honourable person he had ever met. And he was being an ass to him. For absolutely no reason.

“I don’t hate you. And I’d be an absolute asshole if I just sat by and let you lose your scholarship over one class. What mark are you on right now in math anyway?”

“D+ .”

“Well that’s great! All you need is a C- to pass! So, if you listen to me I’m sure I can really help you!” Sanji flicked through some pages in his note book. “Well let’s see… Where did you become lost?”

“Lost? Like I didn’t get it? Let’s try first day.” Oh shit. He didn’t understand the first day? That was a recap on the algebra they learnt last year. If Sanji had to go all the way back to teaching him algebra, on top of all the stuff he already had to teach him, he would never have enough time. Sanji moaned and hit his head on the desk. He was really screwed. Zoro need much more help than he thought. “I get it, I get it. I’m a lost cause.” Zoro threw his hands up in surrender and rubbed the back of his head.

“No. I’m not giving up so easy. So, if you don’t understand anything, how are you even getting a D+?”

“I don’t know, I make shit up on the exams.”

“Okay well let’s just start at chapter 6A, it’s about algebra. You can ask questions when you don’t understand.” Sanji pulled out his textbook, scribbled an equation down and slid it over to Zoro. He watched him think about it for a few seconds then scribble something.

“There. The answer is 4.” He slid the book back to Sanji.

“That’s correct… but where is your working?”

“My working? I did it in my head.” Sanji was surprised Zoro could solve the sum in his head, without a calculator. It wasn’t difficult, but he just assumed that the marimo needed to write every step to get the right answer.

“Well you see, that’s a C level algebra question, but you can only get part marks by writing the answer and not the working out. So the way you did it, it would be a D+ level answer.” Sanji was relieved. Thank god, he didn’t have to explain simple algebra. If he only showed the working, he might even pass this exam without Sanji teaching him anything.

Zoro moaned. Every second of math for him was torture. He hated it. he folded his arms on the desk and rested his head down.

“Okay, so this next question is a B level-” Oh shit. Sanji glanced over Zoro’s head. It was Amy. Coming through the door of the library. Oh god. She can’t see him here she’ll be so pissed. “Shit.”

“What the hell, swirly?” Zoro noticed that Sanji was looking behind him and he began to turn around.

“Don’t look!” Sanji grabbed the moss’s shoulder and pulled him back around “She’ll see us.” He sunk down in his seat trying to hide himself, but Amy kept moving closer to them. She hadn’t seen them yet, but he knew she would. “Oh shit, she’s coming! Quick Run!” Sanji whispered furiously at Zoro, who watched back blankly. Sanji snatched up all his belongings in a heartbeat and took off while Amy had her back turned; dragging Zoro by the wrist- for the second time that day. They ran through the non-fiction section of the library (where no one ever goes unless they are forced too) and through a narrow hallway back to the textbook collection area. Sanji turned to the right and pulled Zoro and himself behind the end of a bookshelf containing classic novels. Sanji kneeled down, and Zoro nearly toppled over, when the blond pulled on his arm. “Get down!” He demanded. Zoro rolled his eyes but then sat anyway.

“What the hell was that about?” The haze of paranoia lifted, as the voice of reason returned. Sanji looked around, he had only just realised that Zoro was sitting up against the aluminium bookshelf staring at him, while he was leaning over top of Zoro to see around the corner. His chest was literally centimetres from the muscular man underneath him. He could feel the heat emanating from him. Sanji’s mind was racing. All he could think was how that only about two weeks before he had imagined them in this exact position, doing something incredibly controversial. After that day Sanji had dreamed about Zoro several times, and every time he would wake up feeling embarrassed, confused, but mostly, captivated.

Sanji took a deep breath to calm his beating heart and crawled back to lean against the wall opposite Zoro. Zoro felt the same way Sanji did. He was just better at hiding it. Zoro’s stomach would get butterflies as soon as Sanji spoke to him, or came close enough to touch him. But Zoro had been hiding his feelings for the pascal swirl practically since they first met. Although, he would deny that he’s had Sanji as his stupid crush for that long.

“Hey, are you listening?” Zoro waved his hands in front of Sanji’s glazed face.  “If you’re having a tough time with your girlfriend don’t drag me into it!” Zoro began to stand and leave.

“Hey wait!” Sanji pulled on his shirt. “Do you think she saw me?” Sanji was 100% sure that if she found out he was avoiding her, there would be hell to pay.

“What the hell do I care?”

“If she saw me, she’ll know I’m evading her and she’ll kill me for sure.”

“Jesus. You really don’t get it do you? If you’re avoiding her you obviously don’t like her. So why don’t you just dump her?” Zoro was obviously frustrated. This was _exactly_ the conversation that had given both of them broken ribs only a few days before. That was when Sanji remembered the volleyball match. He had been so worried about broken ribs and a black eye that he forgot that Zoro followed him to the hall! And he was staring at Amy the whole time! Zoro had only ever said horrible things about their relationship and had been trying to get Sanji to dump her from day 1. Why? What did he have to gain from their relationship falling apart? Unless... he liked Amy. Which was the hypothesis that Sanji had created seconds before Zoro was knocked out. Sanji was pissed. He thought all Zoro wanted was to undermine their relationship, so _he_ could date Amy. And to be honest, Sanji didn’t mind all that much. He hated Amy anyway. What he was upset about, was the fact that 1. Zoro had only ever lied and deceived Sanji for his own personal gain, and 2. He was fucking mad that Zoro liked _Amy_. Amy of all people! Sanji’s head swarmed with horrible thoughts. Because Sanji, even though he was with someone else, had grown horribly possessive of Zoro. For reasons that he will never tell _anyone_.

“Why do you keep telling me to dump her? Why do you follow us around all the goddamn time? huh? Why do you obviously want to break us up so much?”

“What are you on about? I want you to dump her because you _clearly_ don’t like her.” But what Sanji didn’t know, was that lettuce had always been possessive of Sanji, and that is the only reason Zoro hated the new girl in the picture. Zoro was content with Sanji being single all of high school. Because if he couldn’t have him; he didn’t want anyone else to have him. For a while he did intend to break them up somehow- that’s why he was following them to the volleyball court, to find proof that Amy was using Sanji. But during that game he decided it was a lost cause, and it wasn’t his place to mess with things. But every time since then Sanji had complained about how horrible Amy was… And it was pissing him off.

“So why were you at that Volleyball game? Why were you watching _Amy_?” Sanji emphasised Amy to infer his subtext. What he really wanted to know was why Zoro had suddenly become more interested in both of them after Amy was placed into the picture. Sanji was disgusted to ask his next question. But he put on a neutral face to stop the moss finding out what he was thinking. “Do you like Amy?” He asked as emotionlessly as he could manage.

Zoro was repulsed. First of all; he was gay (although still in the closet), secondly he fucking hated that bitch for being a dick to Sanji! Thirdly, he was in love with Sanji! And that asshole had the audacity to ask if he liked his girlfriend? Zoro burst out laughing.

“Haha. You’re joking, right? You couldn’t pay me to date someone like that.”

“What do you mean, someone like that?” Sanji growled, Zoro was pissing him off. And it would be him that started a fight this time.

“I just mean, controlling. Come on, it’s a textbook destructive relationship. We learnt about it in life skills last year.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Well, I bet she is super possessive, doesn’t like any of your friends and wants you to stop talking to them, criticises you, uses guilt to make you do shit that she wants.  Snoops, or follows you around everywhere, shows up at your house at random times to check that you are where you said you’d be, doesn’t care about how you feel, or what you say, is completely paranoid. Never gives you time alone, blames you for everything, makes you feel like there’s no way out of the relationship, calls you all the time--”

“Shut up.” Sanji interrupted. Fuck. That was Amy _exactly_. He was suck in a shitty destructive relationship without even realising it. But what the fuck was he going to do about it? “How do you know all this? No else noticed but you.”

“That’s why I was following you. I wanted to get proof that Amy was a controlling jerk but there is no proof really. Except how much she follows you when she’s at school.” Sanji sighed. That fucking stupid marimo was trying the help him _AGAIN_!! There was no fucking way Sanji could pay him back for all the times that this one guy has gone out of his way to help him. Jesus Christ even Sanji’s closest friends couldn’t see what was going on.

“Why do you help me out all the time? I’m only ever a dick to you so it’s not like you owe me.” 

All Zoro could think was: _It’s because I love you. It’s because I love you. It’s because I love you. It’s because I love you. It’s because I love you. It’s because I love you. It’s because I love you. It’s because I love you. It’s because I love you._ So when he actually built up enough courage to speak he almost said:

“It’s because I love--” Zoro choked, he didn’t mean to say that. Sanji gasped silently… what was he going to say? Was he going to say, you? Was he going to say I love you? What the heck?! Did Zoro have feelings for him too? A million thoughts rushed through Sanji’s mind. Did he love Zoro though? He hadn’t figured out what he was feeling. Zoro cleared his throat. “It’s because I love making fun of you, golden-ratio-eyebrows.” Sanji sighed in relief. He probably couldn’t deal with Zoro loving him. Sanji had no idea what was happening to his brain lately. Although, he couldn’t help but notice a tinge of disappointment well up inside himself.

“I owe you, you know?” Sanji smiled to Zoro. “For helping me out all the goddamn time.”

“Yeah well… Remember that when I lose my scholarship and get kicked out of school.”

“Like, I’d let that happen.” Sanji scoffed. Project Grasshopper had just commenced. And Sanji would walk through the fires of hell before he let Zoro down. He owed him that much at least. That was when Sanji vowed that he would teach the moss calculus, no matter what it took.  As for Amy, well, he wasn’t quite sure if dumping her would be a smart move on his part.


	10. A Step in the Right Direction

“Hey Zoro!” The giant PE teacher called gruffly at the moss head. It was Sir Crocodile. He was tied with Mr Smoker as the scariest teacher in the school; trumping both the principal and the vice principal with ease.

The horizontal scar that ran across both Sir Croc’s cheeks and over the bridge of his nose made him look angry all the time. His entire persona gave off an air that he knew how to handle himself in a fight; which he did. He always wore a long black coat over his clothes, but he never put his arms in the sleeves, which seemed ridiculous and pointless to Zoro. But there was constantly one thing that bugged Zoro about Mr Crocodile the most: he was always, _always_ covered in sand.

You couldn’t see it by looking at him, but all you had to do was brush past him and you would be finding sand on your uniform for months. All the other HPE staff constantly complained about finding sand in their staffroom, and in their food. All the students seemed to avoid him at all costs; either because they were afraid of him, or they hated the sand he trudged around with him.

“Hey!” Sir Crocodile interrupted the laps Zoro was running, and pulled him aside. “We’re a man down for the final game this Friday so I was wondering if, you know, you could be on the team.” Zoro rolled his eyes, Mr Crocodile has been trying to get the marimo to join the football team since day 1. But Zoro _hated_ football.

“No.” Zoro replied bluntly without any hesitation. Mr Croc frowned and placed his hands on his hips, letting his long dark coat flow behind him in the air. It was his signature intimidation technique, but Zoro was not falling for it. He’d been in Mr Croc’s class for almost 5 years, he knew every trick he had.

“Come on Zoro. It’s the grand final! Jason broke his arm last week, so he can’t play.” Mr Croc broke pose and put his hands together and practically begged the teen.

“I hate football.” Zoro waved him off. “And I don’t even know how to play.”

“Come on, it would mean so much to everyone on the team! We could win the grand final!”

“Get the stupid swirly brows guy to do it.” Zoro’s heart beat spiked imagining Sanji’s impossibly long legs running across the field and dodging the other players effortlessly.

“But you’re the perfect man for the job, Zoro. You’d be great! With you, Ace, Franky, Law, Kid, Marco, Sabo and Luffy on the team, we’re sure for a win! We’ve come so far Zoro, just look at those guys over there!” Mr Croc gestured to the entire football team running tackling drills, with who Zoro assumed was Jason (with his broken arm) watching from the sidelines. “They’ve been training every day for months for this. You can’t let them down.”

“No, I don’t know the first thing about football.” Zoro went to walk away, but the PE teacher grabbed him by the arm and fell to his knees. Mr crocodile was literally on his hands and knees, begging Zoro to join the football team.

“Come on Zoro! You can’t do this to us!” He pleaded with his hands in the prayer position. “I won’t take no for an answer.” Zoro went to walk away again but the teacher wrapped both of his arms around Zoro’s legs like a child having a tantrum. “I will follow you around all day until you say yes.” Zoro rolled his eyes.

DING* DONG* DONG* DING*

“I have to go to second period now. Let go of me.”

“Fine.” Mr Crocodile stood and brushed the sand from his clothes. Where the hell did all the sand come from? “But just so you know, I’m dead serious. I can do this _all_ day, kid. I don’t have any more classes.” Zoro shook his head and headed off for Japanese. Crocodile followed closely behind him the whole way.

“Okay class, open your textbooks to page 354.” Ms Tashigi pushed her red, rectangular glasses up her nose and sat at her desk, just below the green handled katana mounted on the wall behind her. Zoro always respected Ms Tashigi, mainly because of her fascination with the names and origins of famous blades. But it was enough for Zoro actually pay attention in her class. Sometimes, if pointed in the right direction, Ms Tashigi would tell the stories of famous katana for the entire lesson. Those were Zoro’s favourite classes.

Zoro opened his boring Japanese language textbook and stared at the confusing characters.

“Ooh, what are we learning today?” Mr Crocodile sat beside Zoro at the back of the room, and peered over his shoulder at the textbook in front of him. Zoro sank in his seat as people turned to stare.

“Sir Crocodile, can I help you with something?” Ms Tashigi asked noticing the older man sitting with her students at the back of the room.

“No, miss. I’m just here to help out my best bud Zoro!” The square-jawed, dark-haired, macho man seemed to loom over everyone as he put an arm around Zoro’s shoulders jokingly. Zoro sighed, this was going to be a long day.

“Very well then. We shall continue from last lesson, where we began learning conjugations…” Zoro wrote down everything Ms Tashigi wrote on the board, without really listening to a word of it. But as Zoro went to write ‘he is = 彼は (Kare wa)’ Sir Crocodile took the pen and note book from him and began doodling all over the page he was using.

“Hey!” Zoro tried to snatch his belongings back but Mr Croc continued to draw what looked like the football team lifting Zoro up onto their shoulders as they carried the grand final trophy. It was a pretty decent drawing, but the dumb teacher ruined all the work that Zoro had just done.

“Are there any questions?” Miss Tashigi asked the class on the topic of conjugations.

“Actually, I have one.” Mr Crocodile raised his hand. “How do you say ‘play in the final and I’ll leave you alone’ in Japanese?” Ms Tashigi squinted quizzically at him behind her glasses but decided to give him the answer anyway.

“Um… That’s: 決勝でプレーし、私はあなただけを残しておきます (Kesshō de purē shi, watashi wa anata dake o nokoshite okimasu.)”

Zoro laid his head on the desk. His rib cage still ached from the fight with Sanji, and there was no possible way he could play a game of football without doing serious damage. In fact, it was pretty much impossible for him to play an entire game of football at all. If he played; he would let the team down and they would lose. If he didn’t, he would let the team down and they would lose. There was no outcome where he could be the good guy.  

“Look.” He began to explain to his childish PE teacher. “I can’t play in the game, I think one of my ribs is broken.” Mr Croc stopped drawing in his notebook and looked sceptically at him. it was clear that the teacher thought he was lying to get out of it.

“I don’t believe you.” The bell rang loudly and the room full of students bustled out the door in a heartbeat, leaving Zoro and Mr Croc behind at the back. Zoro snatched his belongings back and shoved them in his backpack before storming out of the room. It was lunch, and Zoro had agreed the stupid blond that he would meet in the library to learn calculus (except it didn’t work out well last time). If Zoro could just lose the stupid teacher, he could meet with Sanji in the library.

Zoro fled down one corridor and then another, and then out into the courtyard. But no matter where he went, Sir Crocodile was there waiting for him. Zoro ran around in circles around the school and ended up in his English room, but there he was; Mr Crocodile, sitting behind his English teacher’s desk.  

“I’ll always find you.” Holy shit. That was the creepiest thing a teacher had ever said to Zoro, and it was beginning to freak him out. He gave up. He was already the lamest kid in school, it wasn’t like having a teacher follow him around all day could make it any worse. He sighed and headed off to the library; which took a while, these damn buildings kept moving all the time! Mr crocodile followed at a distance behind him the whole way.

Zoro looked through the glass doors of the library at the swirly blond. His face was red and he seemed to be in the middle of a heated argument with Amy. They were both shouting. Zoro hoped that Sanji would finally dump the girl. But suddenly Sanji stopped arguing, he just stood there and took everything that Amy threw at him. She continued to shout until her face was nearly blue and Sanji said nothing. Zoro just stood there and watched swirl’s stupid girlfriend shout at him. Zoro saw Amy turn and head for the door, but before she saw him he hid around the corner of the building out of sight.

“What the hell?” Mr crocodile continued to follow Zoro and hid behind the corner with him. “Why are we hiding?”

“Cause’ that stupid swirly blond guy is having a fight with his girlfriend.”

“And we’re hiding from the girlfriend?”

“Yep.”

“Why?”

“Cause’…. Because… um…” Zoro had no idea why he was hiding. He had never even had a conversation with Amy. He had no reason to hate her, yet he did. He hated her guts, merely because she was dating his crush, and being an asshole to him. But that was as good a reason as any.

DING* DONG* DONG* DING*

Shit. That was the bell. They really didn’t get much time for lunch. Swirls was seriously going to hate him for not meeting him at lunch. Zoro adjusted his backpack on his shoulders and headed off in the direction he thought his English class was.

“Where are we going?” Mr Crocodile asked from behind him.

“English.”

“The English block is the other way.”

“Shut up.” Zoro turned around and headed where Mr Croc gestured. They walked in silence for what seemed like ages.

“You know, you’ll be really popular with the ladies if you join the football team.” Zoro scoffed and began to laugh. Mr Crocodile stared at him curiously. Oops, Zoro sometimes forgot that nobody knew he was gay.

 “I’m not interested in being popular.” He stopped laughing and played it off as if he didn’t care.

“There’s prize money for the wining team.” Zoro stopped and looked hopefully at Mr Crocodile. His family needed all the money that they could get.

“I’m listening.”

“It’s $500 per player on the winning team. Plus, extra money for the school.” To most people, five hundred dollars wasn’t much. But to Zoro and his family, they could eat all the food they wanted for a month. But if he joined the team, there was no way they could win. With Zoro’s broken bones, he struggled to breathe, let alone tackle people.

“Hey, why the hell weren’t you at the library this lunch?” The swirly blond called out making a B-line to where Zoro came from. The blond tapped his foot angrily and waited for a response but before Zoro could say anything Amy came up behind him and linked an arm through Sanji’s. He noticeably stiffened, he looked like a plank of wood whenever Amy was around, and had about the same amount of depth – none. “There you are my sweet!” Sanji turned around, focused all his attention on Amy and pretended like he was never talking to the dumb moss head.

Zoro frowned. Five minutes ago, they were screaming at each other, but now they were acting as if nothing ever happened. It was excruciating. Zoro couldn’t stand either of them at this point.

“Alright everyone! Are you ready to learn?!” Mr Sternum opened the door with a jolt and laughed heartily at himself. He was the tallest, yet the thinnest man in the entire school. His giant afro and top hat only seemed to add to his preposterous height. He couldn’t walk through a door without bumping his head on the frame, which he did more often than not. He wore outdated suits and walked with a cane, despite being probably the most energetic teacher in the school. No one knew his age, the students would often get into competitions to see who could guess most accurately, but no one has ever gotten close. 

The students filed into the white washed room and sat at the white, conjoined desks. As always, Zoro sat alone at the back of the room and Mr Crocodile joined him. The other students stared. Even Sanji made some form of questioning glance to Zoro, who only blushed a little and sank in his seat.

“Why is your face red?” Mr Crocodile asked with strikingly honest curiosity.

“No reason.” Zoro defended instantaneously as his blush deepened.

“So, class! Today we will be learning about the poets of the romantic era!” Mr sternum shouted excitedly, and burst out into some sort of song about poets or something. Zoro’s mind could only think about Sanji’s fight with Amy. Yet here they were, in the same class, and Amy was sitting on Sanji’s lap. He was still as stiff as a board, but somehow, no one, not even Amy, seemed to notice that.

Zoro growled under his breath. He had to find some way of breaking them up. He got out his notebook and began writing possible ways that he could end their relationship. Without realising that Mr Crocodile was watching the whole thing.

“So, you want to break them up, huh?” Zoro nearly jumped out of his seat, and covered his notebook with his arms furiously. He winced, that seriously hurt his ribs.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come on. I’m not stupid, I’ve followed you for one day and I’ve already seen you: watch them fight, hide from them, stare at them all lesson while growling, and write that list.” He grabbed the notebook from under Zoro and slid it out from under his arms. “One. Gain trust. Two. Casually ask about flaws in relationship. Three. Plant idea that relationship is destructive. Four. Wait for relationship to end.” Mr Crocodile read from Zoro’s book as he grew increasingly embarrassed. He wanted to be anywhere but here right now.

“First of all, that will never work.” Mr Crocodile began honestly as he grabbed Zoro’s pen and scribbled out what was written on the page. “If you criticize the relationship, the partner, or make them feel like they are in a doomed relationship, they’ll get angry, defensive, and more determined than ever to make things work.” The teacher began re-writing the list of how to break up a couple. It read:

  1. Gain the trust of one of them – become their confidant
  2. Wait for that person to tell you flaws in relationship
  3. Act confused – make the person explain all the imperfections in relationship
  4. Be the person that they are looking for in a relationship
  5. Be around that person more
  6. Exploit the couple’s weaknesses
  7. Keep them apart as much as possible
  8. Make the person you like jealous
  9. Wait for relationship to end



Zoro read over his PE teacher’s shoulder as he wrote. He became more and more nervous as the list continued. When Mr Crocodile was writing step eight, he was sure that he would pass out. Make the person you like jealous… How did his teacher know that he liked one of them? Did he know that he had a crush on Sanji? Zoro could barely breathe. This was the end for him.

“There. That’s how you break them up.” Mr crocodile whispered as he slid the notebook back over to Zoro. Zoro didn’t move a muscle, and his face looked like a tomato. “Like I said before, you’ll be popular with the ladies if you join the football team. Then you can make that blond girl really jealous.” Oh, thank god. Mr Crocodile didn’t know he had a crush on Sanji. Zoro gave a relieved sigh. 

“I’m not interested in being popular with ladies.” Zoro was just thankful that no one knew about his crush on the swirly eyed kid. If people knew, he’d be even more of an outcast than he is now.

“You don’t have any friends do you?”

“I have friends! They just don’t go to this school!” Zoro defended.

“I thought you were friends with that swirly-eyebrowed blond over there.” Mr Crocodile pointed as Zoro’s face turned a deeper shade and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. “That is why you suggested that he join the team instead of you, right?” Zoro choked.

“No, I just thought he was a better fi--”

“Oh, I get it.” Mr Crocodile finally noticed the idiot’s red face. Sweat was rolling down his forehead – how could he have missed it? Every second the marimo looked at, or even thought about that blond guy, Zoro had blushed and avoided the subject altogether. “You like _him_. That’s why you’re not interested in being popular with ladies.” Shit. Shit. Shit. This was not good. Any second Zoro was sure that Mr Crocodile would stand up, call his secret to the entire room and storm out. This was not good. Zoro physically shook. No one knew, not even his family. He couldn’t handle this.

“I have to go.” Zoro tried to leave but his PE teacher grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down into the chair.

“Don’t worry. I’ll only tell…” He paused and grinned mischievously “… the whole school that you’re in love with him, if you don’t play in the final on Friday night.” This was bad. But really there was only one option here…Take the deal. There was no way he would let the whole school ridicule him, let alone Sanji himself, he couldn’t take that sort of torment.

“Fine.”

“Great. I’ll see you at training tomorrow afternoon at 3.” The giant man smiled menacingly again and floated out of the room in an instant, like he was never there.

“Shit.” Zoro muttered as he banged his head against the desk. Why the heck did he accept? He doesn’t know the first thing about football.

 

***

 

“Where are you going?” The blond girl pulled back on Swirly’s hand as he tried to walk away, outside the French classroom.

“I’m just going...” Sanji couldn’t tell her he was going to meet Zoro. Somehow, it just didn’t seem right. She would get jealous of anyone who he spent time with. It was unfair. If he told her about Zoro, she would most likely meet him after school somewhere and threaten the poor directionless idiot until he avoided him completely. There was no way Sanji was going to let that happen. For some reason, he liked the guy, even though they spent most of their time fighting each other. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Okay, meet you at our spot.” Amy pulled Sanji in and kissed him gently on the mouth before running off in the other direction. Sanji adjusted his tie and made his way to the library. He sat down at a red table in the almost empty room, pulling out his math books and doing some revision himself until the lawnmower arrived. That was a new one- lawnmower. He couldn’t wait to use it on the moss headed idiot. Sanji seemed to live for the moments he could pick on Zoro. But Zoro didn’t show up.

As time went by Zoro still didn’t arrive. Sanji grew increasingly angry at the dumb marimo. Where the hell was he? How dare he blow Sanji off like this when all he was trying to do was help the stupid jerk.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Oh shit. It was Amy. He was about to be in big trouble. “You told me you were going to the bathroom.” She grew aggravated and began tapping her foot on the carpeted floor, her arms were folded over her chest.

“I did, and then I realised that I had to get this revision done so I came here.” Sanji tried to explain before the situation got out of hand.

“And you didn’t think to tell me about it!?” She shouted at him.

“I didn’t think I had to tell you everything!” Sanji tried to stand his ground, but he knew almost from the beginning that it was a lost cause.

 “WELL YOU DO!” she screeched. “I AM YOUR GIRLFRIEND, IT IS YOUR JOB TO TELL ME EVERYTHING! Thanks to you, I was sitting alone all this time, waiting for you to show up! But you never did! Do you know how much that hurts?!” Sanji felt guilty. He never meant to hurt her. He was still a gentleman and he swore he would never hurt a lady. “And what about a couple days ago?! I went to all the effort to come over to your house and make you soup because I thought you were hurt! And you ignored me!”

“That wasn’t my fault, you came over at midnight while I was asleep!”

“But how do I know you’re not lying to me?! HOW DO I KNOW THAT YOU’RE NOT SEEING SOMEONE ELSE BEHIND MY BACK!?” Sanji had no idea how to respond. Amy had blown the entire argument out of proportion. He clutched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his index finger with his left hand, keeping his injured hand hidden in his pocket.

“I’m not cheating on you.” Sanji asserted, exhausted. He was sick and tired of all the yelling and fighting, and they had only been together for about two weeks. This was not working, and he knew it. “Look, Amy…” He sighed. “I don’t think this is working… maybe we should jus--”

“No! There is no way you’re breaking up with me after you’ve been so awful! You owe me! I’ve been noting but respectful and caring to you, and you’ve treated me like dirt.” Amy put her hands on her hips and loomed over Sanji as best she could. “I’ve put so much effort into keeping this relationship going. I was the one that found your timetable and chose as many of the same classes as I could to be with you. And I know we only have two classes together but--”

“I thought you said you were given a timetable because you were new.” Sanji took a suspicious step backwards, but Amy simply stepped closer to Sanji.

“That doesn’t matter! What matters is that we were meant to be together.” Amy placed her hands on Sanji’s shoulders and trapped him between the desk and her. Sanji didn’t know what to think. This was weird. It was terrifying. He got the impression that Amy would do whatever it took to keep him all to herself. “Don’t you see, it was destiny that I ended up at this school, with you. None of your friends could understand that! They wanted to break us up! They wanted to tear our love apart!” Sanji’s heart pounded in his chest. He needed someone, anyone, to interrupt them right now. But no one came. “I won’t let anyone tear us apart.”

Sanji placed his hands on the desk behind him and leant backwards. He was horrified. Zoro was right. He was always right. Amy was psychotic, and there was nothing Sanji could do about it. His whole body shook as he whispered out an apology, meekly.

“I’m sorry, is there anything that I can do to--”

“YOU BETTER BE SORRY!” She shouted in his face, he flinched and turned his head away as best he could. “You can come to the football game with me on Friday night.” He had to. She was crazy. And Sanji was terrified of what she might do.

“Okay.” He muttered fearfully.

“Great!” She squeaked. “But I’m still mad at you for what you did.” She stomped her way out the door.

Sanji really needed to talk to Zoro, he didn’t really know what about, he just knew that even seeing his stupid green hair right now would calm him down. Zoro was right all along; Amy was manipulative and controlling. But Sanji couldn’t dump her. He was terrified that if he did, Amy might set his house on fire. He was dating a time bomb and he had no idea when it was set to explode.

Before English started Sanji saw Zoro appear accompanied by Sir Crocodile, he had no idea what that was about but he need to talk to the moss asap.

“Hey, why the hell weren’t you at the library this lunch?” He honestly didn’t really care, he assumed it was because the lawnmower got lost or something. What he really wanted to say was; _help me._ _Help me dump my girlfriend before she kills me._ But he didn’t know how to say it. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the moss to say anything that could lead into a conversation. But before the idiot replied an arm slipped through his and he felt like he was about to vomit out his heart. He saw the moss give him a questioning glance, but he ignored him and turned around focussing all his attention on his girlfriend. “There you are my sweet!” If he continued talking to Zoro, Sanji was sure that Amy would have killed him.

He needed to tell Zoro. Because, for some reason, out of every person in the whole damn school Zoro was the only one that really cared. Not even Sanji’s closest friends gave a damn about what Amy was doing to him. When Mr sternum opened the door and everyone filled into the room Sanji sat at his usual desk and kept quiet. Amy sat down on his lap without a second thought and the class began. Sanji didn’t listen at all to what the teacher was saying, and after a while his legs became numb from the weight of Amy, but he did nothing. Every now and then Sanji glanced at the green haired muscle head at the back of the room. He was talking with Mr Crocodile, who was sitting next to him. What the hell was that about? It didn’t matter.

Sanji took out a notebook and a pen and inconspicuously wrote something on the corner of the page. While Amy was watching the PowerPoint slides, Sanji tore off the corner and put it in his jacket pocket. Okay, now he just had to figure out a way to give this to Zoro. It was not going to be easy. After the stunt he just pulled with his girlfriend, curly-brow was absolutely positive that he was not going to get a second to himself for the foreseeable future.  

 

***

 

“Oh shoot!” The idiot blond ran into Zoro and knocked him to the ground purposefully. Zoro hitched his breath at the pain in his ribcage, but before he could yell out some demeaning insult to the bastard who knocked him over, Sanji offered a hand to help him up. What the hell was going on? Since when did this idiot help him up after purposely knocking him over? His dumb girlfriend was attached to his other arm, watching. This was probably some dumb rouse to get on his nerves; but somehow, that thought left Zoro’s mind as soon as he looked at the thin man’s face.

Sanji was pleading Zoro to take his hand. He looked frightened for some reason. With his eyes, Sanji was saying: ‘Don’t do it. Don’t start a fight, just take my hand, _Please_.’ Zoro had never seen that expression on the popular jerk’s face before. Zoro’s heart began to beat harder, as he grabbed the outstretched hand and Sanji pulled him gracefully to his feet.

“Sorry about that.” Sanji slid his hand away from Zoro’s as soon as he was on his feet and turned around instantly. With Amy arm in arm, they walked away without another word. Zoro stood and silently stared after them for a while, before slipping the tiny piece of paper, that Sanji had gone to great lengths to give to him secretly, into his pocket. He looked around him suspiciously and headed for home.

A few minutes later, when he was sure that he was alone, and the anticipation had almost killed him, he looked at the neatly written message on the torn paper. It read:

_‘You were right, Lawnmower. I need your help.’_

Zoro laughed and tried to gulp down air in shallow breaths. ‘ _Lawnmower’._ He loved it. Of course, he would throw back some insults at the dumb blond next time they met, but secretly he absolutely loved the petty nicknames they had for each other.

Zoro was honoured that out of the thousands of students that went to Enterprise Heights, Roronoa Zoro, the least popular kid in the school, was the one that Sanji Black turned to for help. Suddenly all the fights and insults seemed worth it. The man that he was hopelessly in love with needed his help, and he would walk to the ends of the earth if he had to, to help the guy out. Zoro smiled to himself, of course, it would take a lot more than breaking Sanji up with his girlfriend to make the curly browed blond fall for him, but it was a step in the right direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm a little early, but Happy Valentine's Day everyone!


	11. First Things First

“Alright Zoro. Let’s see what you got!” Sir Crocodile said enthusiastically with his hands on his hips, supervising the after school football practice match. Zoro had hardly seen the blond all day, and when he did Sanji had avoided to meet his eyes and left with his girlfriend. Amy hadn’t left Sanji alone all day, he looked physically and mentally exhausted. Although, Zoro had noticed that Sanji’s hand was almost completely healed.

“OW! What the hell was that?!” Zoro growled, a football had come from nowhere and crashed into his head. He put a hand to his forehead to stop his pounding brain.

“That was the ball idiot. We threw it to you, were you paying _any_ attention?” Luffy’s brother Ace said standing with his hands on his hips as Luffy and Franky laughed at Zoro’s intense expression.

“Shut up! Throw it again. I’ll be ready this time.” Zoro fixed himself to the ground and lowered his centre of gravity. This time Franky picked up the strange oval-shaped ball and spun it effortlessly at Zoro. It glided through the air with ease, and this time, Zoro was ready. He stepped to the side the second before it hit him and he dodged it smoothly.

“What the hell was that? This isn’t dodgeball!” Marco rolled his eyes and plonked himself on the ground, the whole team could feel the grand final trophy slipping away.

 “You’re meant to catch it, silly!” Luffy simply laughed at the grass-head.

“Oh. Well you could have told me that!” Zoro shouted back. He really didn’t know the first thing about football… Actually… If it was _foot_ ball, why did they use their hands at all? Franky picked up another ball and threw it again at Zoro. This time the lawnmower stopped the ball with his hands and juggled it painfully before it fell to the ground. “Shit.” The whole team groaned.

“Don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time for us to teach Zoro how to play.” Mr Croc lied through his literally gritted teeth. The game was on Friday and it was Wednesday. They had two days until the game- Mr croc was a good coach, but he couldn’t teach someone how to catch, tackle, kick and throw in 2 days. “Let’s just see what you’re good at.” He sighed and hid his eyes under his hand. “Zoro, tackle Franky.”

“What?”

“Tackle him like he just stole your computer and found your porn stash.” Zoro frowned. He didn’t know if he should be angry because of the underhanded comment about his sexuality, or the fact that Sir Croc assumed he had a computer. But he blew it off anyway.

“Okay.” Zoro looked to Franky. “Are you ready?”

“I’m suuuper bro!” Zoro nodded once and prepared his ribcage for stabbing pain. This was going to hurt, a lot. After Zoro built up his strength he ran straight at Franky with all the force and speed he had. He watched Franky lean forwards into the tackle and set his legs into the ground like tree trunks. Zoro figured that, with Franky’s solid build he won’t budge him unless he either comes from the side or goes for his legs. So, Zoro decides to do both. At the very last second possible, after Franky had clenched all his muscles and couldn’t possibly move in time, Zoro changed his path by taking a quick side step and lowered his shoulder enough to take Franky’s legs out from under him.

Franky eyes widened as soon as he realised what Zoro was doing. There wasn’t enough time to move; all he could do was clench his muscles, stand his ground and prepare to be knocked onto his ass. And he was. Zoro put all his upper body strength into taking out his legs and Franky was thrown into the air and knocked back almost 5 meters by the sheer force of Zoro’s tackle. He landed flat on his back, hard.

Everyone gasped, but said nothing. They stared unbelievable at what had just occurred, glancing from the unmoving body of Franky, to Zoro and back to Franky, who was easily twice Zoro’s size. There was no way. No one had ever tackled Franky that hard in his life. Zoro wheezed and choked on the mucus that came out of his aching lungs, he was in agony. There was no way they were going to win the final.

“Franky, you alright?” Ace inquired, there was no response.

“Oh my god! Franky are you okay?!” The thin, excitable teen rushed to Franky’s side. And of course, where Luffy goes, everyone goes. The rest of the team ran after the boy and stared with astonishment at Franky laying on his back on the ground.

“I’M ABSOLUTELY SUUUPER!!” Franky jumped up from the soft grass and ran back over to Zoro. “Zoro where did you learn to move like that?” He shook the marimo painfully by the shoulders in his excitement. The whole team was in better spirits, thanks to Zoro’s skilful tackle, they might actually have a chance at the grand final.

“Um.. Kendo?” Zoro scratched his head. He had never been taught to tackle; in fact, he just thought it was common sense.

“Kendo what’s that?” The team had gathered excitedly in a circle around Zoro. They hung off his every word. It was awful. Zoro just wanted to go home and burry his head in his pillow and sleep. This was both physically and emotionally painful.

“Sword fighting.” Zoro replied flatly.

“Swords? I had you picked for more of a fists guy.” Franky joked, slapping him on the back in a friendly way. The entire team burst out into excited laughter, which made no sense to Zoro. It wasn’t even a joke; why the hell were they laughing?

“That was amazing Zoro! I think I’ve picked the perfect spot for you on the team.” The coach joined the strange circle and patted Zoro on the back. “Zoro you’ll be playing prop!” The entire team, even Jason with his broken arm, cheered. All except for Zoro. Because he had no idea what the hell ‘prop’ meant. He was totally screwed for the game, and it looked like he was the only one that knew it.

“HA YEAH!” Franky cheered, “That’s the same thing that I do!” Mr Croc raised both his hands and gestured the team to sit, which they did. Zoro sat slowly and painfully, resisting the urge to cough up blood.

“The prop’s role is to pretty much tackle anyone in the other team that has the ball.” The giant coach loomed over Zoro as he explained football to Zoro. “But you’ll also need to catch passes from teammates and run towards the goal line. So we’ll have to improve your catching. But don’t worry, if you do get the ball Zoro, your job is to either throw it to a team member behind you or just leg it to the opposing team’s goal line… got it?” Zoro looked to the other team members, they all sat in silent expectation watching Zoro’s confused expression.

“So….” Zoro could almost feel the team draw a breath in anticipation. “I run at people, and run over the line when I get the ball right?”

“Yep. That’s it.” Mr Croc smiled mischievously. “I’ve seen you run Zoro, and I’ve seen you tackle. You’re a machine.” The entire team laughed and smiled at Zoro. For some reason, he was their only hope for wining this game, and he knew he was going to blow it. “Well we’re out of time. We’ll practise again tomorrow afternoon.”

Luffy, Sabo, Ace and Marco were the first to leave, walking across the school oval in the darkening sky. Luffy seemed to run circles around the older boys laughing and grinning like he was 5 years old. Before Zoro knew it, the others were gone too and Zoro sat alone on the soft grass. He didn’t want to go home. His home was just a place where he could eat and sleep (and get picked on by his stupid older sister), the marimo spent most of his time at school, at the dojo and on the streets (whenever they moved and he couldn’t find his way to one place or the other).

Zoro stood slowly and walked home. Every step was painful and it was getting dark; he was pretty sure he was going to have to spend another night out in the cold. Oh well, it’s not like he wasn’t used to it; it’s just that he was absolutely starving.

He sighed and leisurely laid down on the grass of a random park he walked by. He stretched his arms and tucked them under his head. The moon was barely shining from behind the clouds, but Zoro could still see the stars through the clear patches of sky.

“Your hair camouflages perfectly into the grass, you stupid lawnmower.” Zoro didn’t even need to look up to know who it was. He didn’t even need to hear what the idiot said; he could recognise that voice anywhere. He sighed, but as soon as the breath left his mouth it turned into a muffled laugh.

“What the hell are you doing here curly fries?” Sanji frowned. Was this guy for real? But the blond had to admit it was a pretty good name.

“Curly fries?” Sanji mocked jokingly.

“At least it’s better than lawnmower, you stupid jerk.”

“Tch.” Sanji replied as he pulled out a cigarette, lit it and sat down next to Zoro on the ground.

“Get that stupid cancer stick out of my face. I’m having enough trouble breathing as it is.” Zoro coughed as Sanji exhaled smoke into the air around him.

“Yeah… and who’s fault is th-” Zoro poked Sanji right on his broken ribs and watched the blond break out into an uncontrollable coughing fit. Sanji heaved and wheezed dropping his lit cigarette onto the ground. He coughed so hard that he collapsed onto the ground and rolled onto his side before he finally caught his breath again. Zoro regretted nothing.

“Every time I see you smoke I’m going to poke your broken rib.” Zoro smirked unwaveringly. He really hated to see people throw their lives away with smoking. Is it supposed to make you look cool? Because the only thing it did to Zoro was make him want to throw up.

“Screw you.” Sanji gasped out between breaths for air. “I came here to ask you for your help, but if you’re going to be an asshole I’ll get someone else.”

“Don’t you want my help _because_ I’m an asshol-”

“Amy is psychotic.” Sanji blurted out before Zoro could finish. “But I can’t dump her because I’m afraid she might burn down my house or something.” Zoro didn’t know how to respond. All he could think was that he knew it. He knew it all along and Sanji didn’t believe him.

“Haha haha” Zoro began to laugh. He sat up and looked at Sanji, who was still lying on his side staring restlessly down at the grass. The blond watched curiously as Zoro chuckled. “I knew it. So now you want my help to get rid of her right?”

“Yeah.” Sanji sighed painfully, sat up and smoothed his hair. “Go ahead, call me an idiot.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Shit. I’m only here right now because I told her that I was working tonight. What if she goes to my work and finds out I’m not there? She’s going to kill me!”

“Just dump her.”

“Are you _serious_?! You don’t think I’ve tried that already?!” Sanji’s hands began to shake as he fiddled with the strands of his hair. “She told me that on the first day she stole my timetable from by backpack and chose as many of my classes as she could. She told me that it was destiny that she ended up at this school!” Sanji grew increasingly aggravated and grabbed Zoro by his lapels and began to shake him. “She told me that all my friends wanted to tear our love apart!! She told me that she wouldn’t let anyone tear us apart!!!” Sanji was frantic.

“Jesus.” Sanji let go of Zoro as the information sunk in. “I knew she was weird but I didn’t think she was grade ‘A’ level psycho.”  A silence fell over them as they searched their brains for solutions. Sanji came up blank, the only thing he could think of was to move to a different state.  “You could… let her dump you?” Zoro scratched his head, this was seriously not his area of expertise.

“Do you think she’ll ever dump me?”

“Good point. Really I think the only thing you can do is dump her and just hope she takes it well.” Sanji sighed.

“Yeah I thought that was what I had to do.”

“Or you could find someone she likes more than you.” Sani scoffed, the likelihood of that was almost zero, and they both knew it.

“When do you think I should dump her?”

“When you’re in a crowed place so she doesn’t slit your throat?” Zoro joked and laughed at Sanji’s unimpressed disposition. But really there wasn’t anything lettuce could do for the love-idiot. “You could just try ignoring her until she gets the picture and dumps you.”

“That doesn’t seem gentlemanly.”

“Oh but running away and hiding from her is?” Zoro rolled his eyes, he really should be used to the Pascal Swirl’s double standards by now. Sanji didn’t respond to Zoro’s back-handed comment, instead he sat cross-legged pulling blades of grass out of the ground childishly. As Zoro watched him sit there unhappily he realised how young and small Sanji really was. To the rest of the school Sanji Black was a child prodigy who was destined to be rich, handsome and powerful. But to Roronoa Zoro, Sanji was just any other 16-year-old boy. A stupidly idiotic one at that. Zoro realised that people wanted to be friends with the blond, not because of who he was right now, but of who he was going to be.

For some unknown reason the moss head remembered once again, in that moment, that the only times he had ever met with Sanji was when they were alone. Zoro suddenly came to the conclusion that Sanji was a jerk. An actual jerk. His friends may be using him for his money, but _he_ was using Zoro for whatever he wanted.

“You’re a jerk.” Zoro stood and brushed the grass from his uniform. Why hadn’t he seen this earlier?

“What?” Sanji could tell something was wrong. He stopped picking at the grass and looked up at Zoro.

“I get it now. You use me to fix all your stupid problems but you still won’t be caught dead in public with a loser like me.” Zoro began to walk away angrily but Sanji got up quickly and followed him, grabbing him by the arm and turning him around to face each other.

“Where the hell is this coming from all of a sudden?”

“You think I’m just some low-class scum don’t you?!” Zoro shouted in the blonde’s face. “That’s what everyone else thinks. But I thought you were different!” Zoro’s voice wavered at the end, the firm aggressive sound broke down into whispers of sadness and disappointment.

Sanji stared back devastated. “I don’t think you’re scum.” He tried to reason, but Zoro brushed his arm away and began walking heatedly through the park. Sanji followed behind. To be honest, he couldn’t blame Zoro for anything. It was true. Sanji didn’t want to be seen in public talking to Zoro, but it wasn’t because he thought he was ‘scum’. It was because, for an unknown reason, Sanji wanted to keep Zoro to himself. “Look.” Sanji pulled Zoro around to face him again. “The reason I avoid you when there are people around is because, if I talk to you in public, it could go either one of two ways: 1. The entire school could hate your guts and bully you like Rebecca. Or 2. They might think you’re cool and people will start hanging out with you.” Sanji let go of Zoro and looked at the ground. “And to be honest I don’t want either of those things to happen.”

“Why the hell do you care what happens to me?”

“Because you won’t be invisible anymore. You’ll know about things before I tell you. Either way, you’ll stop talking to me.” Sanji sighed and looked back at Zoro’s confused face.

“Isn’t that what you want? Don’t you hate me for being so low-class?” Zoro glared and spoke deeply.

“Are you dumb or what?” Sanji rolled his eyes. “I have literally told you twice now that I don’t hate you. What’s the matter with you? Do you just go through life thinking everybody hates you?” 

“Yep.” Zoro did. He just instantly assumed that because no one has ever liked him; no one ever will. Hell, Zoro had gone through pretty much his whole life hating everyone… He even hated Sanji, except, in a different sort of way. It was a way that Zoro couldn’t really explain to himself yet. He hated and loved him at the same time. And it pissed him off! He wished he could just choose one!

Sanji sighed a wiped his face with his left hand. “I. Don’t. Hate. You.” He articulated slowly, to get the point through the moss’s thick skull. “It’s nice to get away from all the conceited, judgmental people, so that’s why I talk to you. Alone. You’re the only person at the whole goddamn school that isn’t a rich, stuck-up prick. And that includes me.”

“So, you’re saying you’re a rich jerk?”

“Yeah I am.” Sanji sort of lied. He was telling the truth that he was a rich jerk, but there was a different reason why he never wanted to talk to Zoro in public. A secret reason. Honestly, Sanji was a jealous person. A _very_ jealous person. And ever since he having feelings for Zoro he knew that he wasn’t going to let anyone get close to him. That meant that Sanji would do whatever it took to keep Zoro as unpopular as ever. Even if that involved spreading some bullshit rumour about him. But first things first, he needed to get rid of Amy fast… and he had just the plan in mind.


	12. Not for a Second

“Hheheha” a group of schoolgirls giggled and blushed from behind the serving counter as the popular blond bought a small bucket of popcorn.

“What are you beautiful ladies doing behind a counter?” Sanji leaned in and began to whisper, “Shouldn’t you be on the field cheer-leading? Since you’re so pretty.” They giggled again and turned away. Sanji grinned widely and put his money down on the counter. “Thanks, ladies.” He waved as he walked away.

“Ugh. If you’re going to flirt with _every_ girl, you may as well flirt with me a little.” Amy grabbed Sanji’s hand and lead him to wherever she wanted to go. “Thanks for the popcorn by the way.” She took a handful and threw it into her mouth. “I love football!”

Sanji sighed. “I don’t think you’re thinking of the right football.”

“What do you mean?” They walked through the aluminium stands until they found a seat on the top row, near Nami, and Vivi. Neither of them really liked football, but somehow, Amy had gotten them to come anyway.

“I mean, this is Australian football. Rugby League.”

“What?! What’s Rugby league?” She scrunched up her face like she just ate a pack of warheads, and spat the ending like it was beneath her.

“Rugby league is football in Australia. Although, those idiots from Victoria seem to think AFL is football.” He shook his head. “Queensland plays New South Wales ever year in the state of origin… we usually win. Queensland is the best state.”

 “Please.” Nami rolled her eyes. “Sydney is the best city. Brisbane is the smallest city I have ever seen. It’s pathetic.” She took a quick, loud breath and began a conversation with Vivi, ignoring Sanji again. Sanji began to breath heavily, he brushed at his hair nervously and told himself to calm down. This was his plan. Really? _This_ was the best thing he could come up with? Dumping Amy in a crowded place like this? She’ll hate him so much. Sanji was slightly scared. He really didn’t want to make a scene.

“Hey, did you hear they got a new player to replace Jason, because he broke his arm!” A thin boy with a long nose interrupted Sanji’s thoughts. “They offered me the position of course, but I had to decline, I thought I would become too popular for you all!” He stood with his hands on his hips in front of them.

“Oh, shove off, Usopp!”  

“It’s true!” Vivi piped in. “I heard he’s fighter who’s won lots of medals in competitions.” Sanji rolled his eyes, rumours in this school are almost never true.

“And it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the Enterprise Heights Hammerheads!” The crowd began to cheer as the home team ran onto the field, Sanji took several deep breaths, this was going to be a long night, and he had to spend every moment of it trying to figure out when he could dump his girlfriend. He was the worst person in the world.

“Hey, isn’t that the idiot you mess with because of his green hair?” Nami pointed to the player that ran onto the field. Sanji looked up, it was Zoro; no doubt about it. He was wearing the classic EH Hammerhead jersey with the number 8 on the back. What the hell was he doing out there?

“Why is that loser playing in the grand final?” Nami crossed her arms. “We’re going to lose for sure.” Sanji frowned at the remark but chose to ignore it.

“He’s playing prop?” Usopp scratched his head, “they usually reserve that for the toughest players.” Sanji smiled; he knew that if Zoro belonged anywhere on that field it was in the roughest position.

The opposing team was the next to run out onto the field and position themselves. But Sanji didn’t care about them. He was completely focused on Zoro. He sat on the edge of his seat with his eyes locked on the field; people bustled about and shouted but he completely tuned them out.

Sanji had come to support Ace and Luffy and all his other friends on the team, but as soon as Zoro ran out, he had entirely forgotten about them. There was just something about the stupid marimo that Sanji just couldn’t resist. He smiled knowingly, yet his head and stomach began to spin, he couldn’t help himself from worrying about the lawnmower’s broken ribs. This was probably going to be the most painful 80 minutes of the broccoli’s life. Breathing was hard enough; tackling people to the ground? Agony.

Suddenly, with the blow of a whistle and a kick of the ball, the game began. Sanji had never been more fixed on a game of football in his entire life. He watched the players run from one side of the field to the other, getting tackled and throwing the ball behind them every time. Zoro had the ball at one point in the first quarter and Sanji couldn’t quell his beating heart. It was like he was feeling the excitement of the entire team. It was like he could feel every single step Zoro took.

Zoro ran in the right direction (‘ _for the first time in his life’_ Sanji laughed to himself) and was tackled by three members of the other team about 15 meters from the try line. Sanji groaned; that must have been painful, and he could tell by the way the marimo struggled to stand back up that it was. There was no way Zoro should be playing football with his broken ribs. 

Sanji’s right leg bounced up and down involuntarily as he watched intently at the marimo’s every move. As soon as the other team had the ball, Zoro ran straight for it. As much as the other players tried to dodge him, it seemed like the lawnmower knew every move they were going to make before they knew it themselves. He was a machine; running back and forwards across the giant field tackling and being tackled. But every time he got back up off the ground it took him longer. Sanji could imagine Zoro’s heavy breaths and painful grunts. He had hurt him enough times to know what sounds Zoro made when he was in pain.

“Hey!” Someone grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around to face them. Sanji tensed. It was Amy. “Are you listening to me?!” Sanji wasn’t. He didn’t even realise she had spoken. But it didn’t matter, he had to watch the game; he _had_ to watch Zoro. But why? Why had Sanji become so horrifically possessive of the idiot? He meant nothing to him…They weren’t even friends. Were they? Sanji pulled himself back around and continued to watch lettuce run and tackle on the field. He vaguely felt the presence beside him leave, but he didn’t care.

It felt like every second that Sanji had ever spent with Zoro was leading up to this moment. The grand final. If they won, Zoro would be a popular hero; but if they lost Sanji would get to keep Zoro as his ‘secret confidant’. It was horrible to admit, but Sanji was hoping that they lost. He sighed. The moss head was out there working his butt off, and Sanji was hoping for him to fail. He felt awful. He shook his head and covered his head with his hands. What did Zoro mean to him? But no matter how hard he tried, Sanji couldn’t figure it out. There was a tremendous whistle and Sanji looked back up.

“Usopp! What the hell just happened?!” Sanji had to shout over the ruckus of the crowd, he didn’t know much about football, but it looked to him like both teams stopped in the middle of play and were waiting around for something.

“It was a penalty. The ref blew the whistle, I think Franky tackled someone above the shoulders. They’re waiting for the refs to make a decision.”

“What does that mean?”

“We’re in the second half, four minutes from the end of the game, and we’re down three points… With the South-bay Penguins that close to our try line and a penalty, I think it means we’re finished.” Usopp sighed, “Oh well, that new guy gave it his best. But I’m not too sure he knew what he was doing half the time.” Usopp shook his head.

It couldn’t be. Sanji whipped his head back around to watch the team. They looked defeated. It looked like they had already given up on winning. But Sanji knew that no matter the odds, you can never give up until it’s over. And it wasn’t over.

The crowd of EHA students looked solemn, like they had given up too, some students were even leaving. But Sanji couldn’t. This was the Marimo’s darkest hour and for some unknown reason Sanji knew that this match meant something to Zoro. Why else would he try this hard, putting himself in so much pain? Sanji wasn’t about to let the dumb moss-for-brains lose after coming this far. He had thought about it; about how much he wanted them to lose, to keep Zoro unpopular and all to himself. But Zoro would never forgive him, for choosing to turn his back. So Sanji built up all his strength and courage and pride, and shouted at the top of his lungs, so that the team could hear him from the other side of the field:

“DON’T YOU DARE LET THEM BEAT YOU, YOU DUMB MARIMO BASTARD! THAT’S MY JOB!!” As soon as Zoro heard that voice, he laughed. There was only one person in the entire world that would have the courage and gall to shout that out to him. Ace, Franky and the rest of the team watched Zoro laugh in confusion. But it didn’t matter. He knew what it meant. It wasn’t an insult, it was a compliment. But it was much more than a compliment. Sanji Black, the most intelligent, good-looking and popular student in the school had put his faith in Roronoa Zoro. And he wasn’t about to let him down.  

Sanji leant back on the stand and smiled to himself, there was no way they were going to lose now, he had just challenged the mossy. And if Sanji knew Zoro at all, he knew that Zoro would never back down from a challenge.

The referees had decided. It was a penalty and they had given a free kick to the other team. There was two minutes left on the clock. The Penguins kicked from the sideline, but missed the goal. The ball didn’t curve in the right direction. The Hammerheads made a sigh of relief. This was there shot. They had one chance. They ball came Zoro’s way, and the entire team, nay, the entire school prayed that he could catch it. Zoro made a run and caught the ball in mid-air. It was like Zoro hadn’t really been trying for the first 77 minutes of the game, or maybe he just decided to put the rest of his energy reserves into the last three. Because when he caught the ball, he ran the fastest that he had ever run. One minute on the clock. Zoro dodged and weaved his way straight through the other team’s defensive line like a heat-seeking missile. Still three points down, and one minute to go.

The fate of the entire match was in Zoro’s hands. Sanji wasn’t even sitting anymore, he was on his feet screaming his lungs out at the dumb marimo to get to the try line. Sanji began chanting _moss-head, moss-head, moss-head,_ and it was soon picked up by almost the entire school. Mr Iceberg was in the front row of the bleachers shouting with the other students. Sir Crocodile could be seen jumping up and down from the sidelines, sand falling out of this long coat and making a pile on the grass. Regardless of whether Zoro made it to the try line or not, this was the closest Enterprise heights had come to winning the grand final in almost 20 years.

The whole team had trained so hard for this final moment that it almost didn’t seem real. Time slowed. 30 seconds on the clock now. Zoro was so close. But he wasn’t close enough, three of the Penguin’s strongest players blocked Zoro’s path. He tried to dodge but it was too late. They were coming at him, there was nowhere to go. He gritted his teeth; there was no way he was going to come all this way for nothing. He saw an opening. He took it. The clock struck zero.

The audience was silent. Zoro couldn’t be seen. He was piled under the three giant footballers from the penguin’s team. They were right on the cusp of the try line, but was Zoro? Did he make it? They slowly got off him. You could hear a pin-drop from the bleachers. No one knew who won the match. Sanji held his breath. He still wasn’t sure which outcome he wanted to happen.

After the last footballer got off of Zoro, he was lying face down into the grass, struggling to breathe. The referees rushed over. But the decision was obvious. Zoro lay with his head and shoulders over the line holding the football for dear life.

The whistle blew. The Enterprise Heights Hammerheads were announced as the winners for the 2017 GIO Schoolboy Cup with a score of 25-24. The crowd of Enterprise Heights students went insane. Zoro was lifted from the ground and thrusted up onto the shoulders of the rest of the team. Zoro had the biggest grin that Sanji had ever seen. In fact, Sanji thought long and hard, it was the first time he had seen Zoro smile, genuinely smile, and they had known each other for over 5 years.

The students from the bleachers ran out onto the field and screamed and shouted at the team. Sanji sat and watched schoolgirls of all ages wave and smile at the green-haired idiot, that only moments before had been the lamest person in the school.

After Zoro was paraded around the field a bit he was put down and almost stampeded by girls giggling and screaming at him. They blew him kisses and flirted with him as he disappeared into the crowd. Sanji growled to himself while gritting his teeth. He hated every second. He was jealous; envious. Of Zoro, of course.  Who wouldn’t love all those pretty girls blowing kisses at you?

The blond stood from the now empty bleachers and joined the crowd on the field. He couldn’t focus on any particular person or topic of conversation. It was like he was numb to the world. To Sanji, it felt like he had lost something, something he didn’t even know existed. And it was all because Zoro won the stupid football game. Suddenly Sanji forgot about dumping Amy and congratulating his friends and being a generally nice person. He could only think about how much Zoro was going to hate him now… Because they were rivals, not only physically, but now socially. He sighed, before he spotted a very particular patch of grass pushing through the crowd and walking back through the school grounds.

“Hey moss head. If you’re going home it’s the other way.” Sanji sneered, but all his usual callousness and mockery was gone, instead it was replaced with a gloomy indignation.  “Really, I’m surprised you could find the try line tonight.” He added, laughing to lighten the awkward silence he had just created.

“Tch” Zoro shrugged but turned around to walk in the direction swirls gestured “If you came to piss me off you can get fucked. I’m not in the mood for your games.”

“Nope.” Sanji raised his hands in surrender jokingly. “Not here to fight with you. We shook on it remember?”

“Then what do you want?”

“Actually, I came to congratulate you on the game you played.” It was true, Sanji had to admit that Zoro was amazing at football. “And I wanted to know if you needed someone to walk you home.” Zoro stopped dead in his tracks. “Because I know you’d get lost otherwise.” He breathed a sigh of relief and disappointment. It was an insult, but it didn’t sound like one of the ones the pascal usually made.

He began to walk again, “Whatever I don’t care, just don’t piss me off. I’m in a good mood.

“Good mood? You’re frowning like you just found out your favourite childhood character is a paedophile.” Zoro smiled with one side of his mouth. But no matter how hard Sanji tried he couldn’t get him to smile like he was smiling when he scored that try. 

“Shut up. I’m in a better mood than usual.”

“And you should be. You just scored the biggest try of your life – the first try of your life, but still. You won the final! Our team won!” Sanji danced around Zoro as they walked slowly along the footpath.

“Our team always wins.”

“Not for 20 years dumbass, have you been living under a rock? Our team always gets up to the grand final and loses to that other shitty ass private school from Sydney.”

“Ugh, who cares anyway?”

“Who cares? The whole fucking school!” Sanji stopped and pulled on Zoro’s arm to turn him around. Zoro stared into Sanji’s face angrily, waiting for some callous remark. “Did you just win the grand final without even knowing how big a deal it is?”

“So what if I did. It’s just a shitty game!” Zoro tried to pull his arm back from the blonde’s grip but gave up shortly after. His muscles ached and any movement almost killed his ribcage. It was a struggle to even breathe.

“Schools come from all over the country to play that ‘shitty game’. The school you just beat flew 2 hours in a plane to be here tonight!”

“So what? We won, it’s over, and I don’t have to play that stupid game again.”

“Geeze, you really don’t care do you?” Sanji released his arm and they continued walking slowly towards their homes.

“Nope. Now will you leave me alone?”

“Ha-ha.” Sanji laughed mockingly. “You’ll be seeing a lot more of me now! And the rest of the school! Until this ‘winning the final’ thing blows over, you’re going to be a popular kid. You better get used to the attention.” Sanji smirked at Zoro, but on the inside, he was torn. Finally, Sanji could talk to Zoro in public without the fear of the entire school shunning him for being a low-class loser. He rolled his eyes… ‘ _and he only had to win the grand fucking final to do it_ ’ He thought to himself. Yet, Sanji hated it. He hated that all those schoolgirls crowded him and blew him kisses. He frowned. There had to be a way to return him to normal; to make him a ‘loser again’…. But how?

“What!?” Zoro turned around to face Sanji and straightened up. He locked his dark eyes on Sanji’s pale face.

“You heard me, the whole school saw what you did. You pretty much saved the match. If it wasn’t for you, we would have lost. The whole school is going to love you.” The blond sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Shit I’m really going to have to step up my game if I’m going to compete with that.” Zoro’s face began growing hotter as he looked at the ground nervously. Since when was his popularity a threat to Sanji’s? He smiled, they were finally sort of equals in every respect. Except the fact that Sanji was a rich genius, and Zoro was… well, not. But Zoro was pretty sure that he was going to absolutely hate being popular. “But like I said it’ll all blow over soon enough and it’ll be back the way it always is – unless of course you _like_ being popular.” Sanji smirked and leant in to Zoro’s face.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He growled.

“This is your shot at being a popular kid, if you don’t like it, it’ll go back to normal eventually but it might take some time; and if you happen to enjoy the attention, well it won’t last forever.” Sanji had a bright idea and sneered knowingly. “How’s about we make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Yeah, after a week of being the ‘popular kid’ and you hate it, I’ll spread some stupid rumour about you and everyone will avoid you again. But if you like being the top of the food chain, then I’ll make sure you stay that way. Deal?”

“Why are you doing this? What’s in it for you?” Sanji grinned. ‘ _What’s in it for me?’_ He thought to himself. _‘Why only you of course_.’

“Geeze, can’t you let me help a guy out?” Sanji said instead, rolling his eyes and waving off Zoro’s suspicions.

“Not for a second.” Zoro knew Sanji all too well; there was definitely an ulterior motive there somewhere.  

“Well let’s just say I’m curious.” He didn’t exactly lie, Sanji was interested to know if Zoro could stand the heat. Being popular isn’t exactly all its cut out to be.

“Fine.” Zoro sighed. He would take any deal to ensure people would leave him alone. He seriously hated talking to anyone at all. “Let me get this straight. You’ll make everyone not give a shit about me again, right?”

“Right.” Sanji held out his hand for Zoro to shake, and the lettuce reluctantly shook. But there was something in swirl’s eyes that Zoro didn’t like; but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what it was.


	13. Fair Trade

****Day one.

The alarm began belting out a high pitched beeping sound at the exact same time Kuina burst through Zoro’s green door.

“Rise and shine, you big football legend!” Kuina opened the blackout curtains and released the hellish light of the sun into Zoro’s eyes.

“No.” He groaned, “I’ve decided to spend the whole week curled up in a ball, forgetting that the outside world exists.”

“Oh, that’s a great plan!” Kuina squeaked excitedly.

“Really?”

“No!” Zoro held the cheek that Kuina just slapped, it was sure to be red.  “Now if you’re quite done being a big baby it’s time for school.” Zoro hated Kuina. She always did this. Slapping him, waking him up, calling him names… She could be a real bitch sometimes. But then again, she had to be; to help raise the stubborn idiot that was Roronoa Zoro.

The day began as usual. Zoro got up after Kuina yelled at him, ate a quick breakfast, got dressed, shoved his books in his bag, got lost once on the way to school and showed up late to home room.

But there was something that didn’t sit well with Zoro. Instead of sneaking around the school totally unnoticed. The entire way through the school he could feel eyes on him. He could hear the whispers from behind his back.

Zoro quickened his pace as soon as he heard the giggles and squeaks; always from behind him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He was tense, it felt as though he was going to be attacked at any second; or worse, complimented.

“Hey! It’s Youuuu! Nice game last night bro! it was suuuuper!” The giant blue haired upper-class man patted him on the back roughly. Zoro grimaced. Then suddenly the whispers weren’t whispers anymore…

They were voices, and they came at him in every direction.

_That was a great goal you scored…_

_Oh my god you totally saved the match…_

_I had no idea you were so good at football…_

A crowd of people he had never met surrounded him and praised him. Zoro’s heart began beating faster and faster. To anyone else, this would be the best day of their life. But to Zoro…

_oh gosh, he’s so hot, isn’t he?..._

_I heard he’s a black belt in karate…_

_No way! It’s the guy from the match!..._

_I can’t believe I used to think he was a freak…_

Being the centre of attention was what he dreaded the most in this world.

_What’s with the hair, you stupid moss head?! I bet your parents are freaks like you! I bet you live in a whole family of freaks! Hey, I heard your parents use your head to clean the toilet and that’s why your hair is green. Gross!_

The same people that used to torture him day after day, now surrounded him with smiling faces. Zoro couldn’t help but wonder what sort of bloodied knives they were holding behind those grins.

He shoved his way through the dozens of students and ran through the school. Curious and confused eyes followed him as the whispers trailed off behind him. Finally, he reached his form class. But he was too late; the room was empty.

Or so he thought.

As he was about to push the door open he heard a voice from inside. It was a girl, she was shouting.

“Why the hell have you been ignoring me? I’m your girlfriend you’re supposed to care about me!” Zoro was about to leave, it was none of his business after all. But then he heard the other voice. There was no doubt about it; it was Sanji. All of a sudden it _became_ Zoro’s business. Anything to do with Sanji Black interested Zoro. He had no idea why. That was a lie; he knew exactly why but he wasn’t willing to admit that.

“I haven’t been ignoring you! When did I ever ignore you?” Sanji’s voice wavered barely audible, but just enough so Zoro could hear it.

“Yesterday after the game. You were too focused on finding a stupid player that you completely ignored me!” _Which player?_ Zoro wondered.

“I did not ignore you! As I recall you were flirting with the other players the whole time!”

“Yeah I was flirting with them ‘cause you were ignoring me! I wanted to make you jealous! But it obviously didn’t work! You just left without me! Where the hell did you go anyway!?”

“I got bored and left” Sanji shrugged.

“Ugh you are such a loser! I don’t know why I even try to date you!”

“Then don’t! Just leave me right now if I’m such a nuisance!” Zoro held his breath, he hoped that the blond chick would say yes and leave Sanji alone for the rest of his life.

“No way! There is no way I am letting you go that easily!” Zoro pressed his ear to the door; not that it was necessary since she was shouting so loud. “Listen here stupid swirly browed weakling.” Zoro scowled. _What had that… that... that bitch just called Sanji!?_ Amy grabbed Sanji by the collar and pulled him down to glare at him in the eyes. “You are the only way I can get through this stupid school! I didn’t move here from my nice little world in the states to become bottom feeding trash like that green haired ape! So, here’s what’s gonna happen: you are going to pretend like we never had this conversation, you’re going to notice me, and you are going to sit with me every day at lunch. You’re going to kiss me and tell me I’m beautiful. You’re going to be a right gentleman. And if you’re not, then I’m going to make the next 1 and a half years here a total hell for you. Do you understand?!” she screeched at him.

Zoro was dumbfounded. He had imagined her as a controlling freak, but not like this! He had to help Sanji! But how? He couldn’t barge in, because that would admit that he was listening the whole time.

“Ye- Yes my sweet.” Sanji kissed Amy’s hand. There was nothing he could do. He’d promised himself that he would never harm a lady in any way so… he just had to concede and give Amy what she wanted… It’s not like it was going to last long anyway… Amy would get bored eventually, right?

“Good.” The raucous ringing of the bell interrupted their conversation.  “I’m off to class now, bye cutie.” She smiled cutely and waved at Sanji. Sanji returned the smile but instantly frowned as soon as Amy left the room.

Sanji sighed. He needed to get out of this place. He needed to get away from all these people. There was only one place for him to go. He pushed the door open forcefully and ran towards the roof. Zoro stood unnoticed around the corner and watched Sanji run.

“Hey! Zoro, right?” A hand taped Zoro’s shoulder and he spun around.

“Do I know you?”

“Well… Well I was at the football match last night you see, and I just wanted to say how great you were in the last couple of minutes. How you dodged and weaved and dived on the line…It was like it came straight out of an anime!” Zoro’s lungs seized up uncontrollably and he couldn’t breathe. What was wrong with him?

“Thanks. Kid.”  Zoro choked out finally. He needed to get away from all these people.

Sanji raced up to the roof he pulled the stairs closed behind him. He sat completely in the dark, completely alone. After a long while he stood slowly and opened his pack of cigarettes. Sanji didn’t know how much time had passed. He smoked one, maybe two… oh heck. He smoked the whole damn pack of cigarettes. The dark room was filled with thick smoke. Sanji struggled to breathe but it felt nice to him; he felt numb, it was as if he was floating in a calm ocean. And he wanted to stay there forever.

Sanji had almost no sleep last night. His mind just would stop working. He kept replaying all the conversations he had ever had with Zoro. And he had no idea why.

Before Sanji realised it the door was opened and closed and Zoro was sitting on the floor in a comfortable silence.

“So, how’s the popularity thing going? Can’t take the attention?” Sanji finally asked to break the silence.

“Why do you think I’m up here dumbass?” Sanji smiled lightly, but it was too dark for Zoro to see his face at all. “What about you? What are you doing away from your precious audience? Girlfriend too much for you?” Zoro pried, he knew the answer already; but he needed to know it from him.

As soon as Zoro mentioned Amy Sanji broke out into fits of coughing and dropped his half-smoked cigarette on the floor.

“Didn’t I tell you smoking would kill you?” Sanji recovered from his fit and wheezed a reply.

“Yeah, but fuck. Right now, I just don’t give a shit.” He sighed.

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Shut up you know exactly what my problems are.”

“Hah! What problems?! If you just grew the courage to dump your stupid girlfriend you wouldn’t have any problems.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Yeah, I know, she has you wrapped around her little finger.”

“Shut up.” He sighed. “If I dump her she’ll drag my reputation through the mud. I’ll lose everything I’ve built here.”

“And if you let her control your life your reputation will become ‘Sanji the boy-pet who waits on Amy’s every command’”

“What did you just say?”  Sanji was slightly shocked but even more angry. He growled. “What do you even know!? You have it great! Zoro the football star. Zoro the hero. Zoro’s so cool how he scored that goal. Zoro the karate black belt! Zoro’s so hot I wonder if he has a girlfriend! Zoro’s muscles are so big you can see them through his school uniform! You have no idea what you are doing to me!” Sanji stood and shouted. But a second after he said it out loud he regretted it. Why did he add the part about the girlfriend and the muscles? This was about to go terribly wrong.

Zoro was angry, but mostly embarrassed… people had noticed his muscles through his uniform? Had Sanji? Zoro could never get a reading from the guy. Sanji’s heart began to beat faster, and so did Zoro’s.

Finally Zoro forced his tongue to make words “Fine, if you’re so jealous take it all. I’d gladly go back to being unnoticed again.”

“Isn’t it lonely though? Not having people to talk to?”

“Aren’t you lonely, with all your fake friends to discuss the weather with but never anything that is actually substantial? After all that’s what you have me for right? Since I’m expendable?”

“No. You know what? Let’s be friends.”

“What?” Zoro’s heart skipped and all his common sense flew out the tiny frosted glass window in the opposite wall of the attic.

“I mean we always end up hanging out together anyway.” Sanji pulled out a pen and scribbled something on a scrap of paper. “Here.”

“What is it?”

“This is my phone number. So, you can text me.” Zoro’s heart felt like it was the winner of a triathlon that his brain didn’t seem to know about. “Can I have your number?” Zoro let out a tiny inaudible squeak. Yet he was suspicious of the sudden change in heart of the blond.

“What for?”

“So I can text you.”

“Why do you want to text me?”

“I don’t know… Isn’t that what friends do?” Zoro didn’t know how to respond. The only people he had ever texted were Koshiro and Kuina. He had no idea what he would even say to the blond over text… were they even friends? You could stick the ‘friendship’ label on their relationship sure, but it didn’t mean that it was true.

“Are we friends?” He asked. Zoro Looked over to the black silhouette of Sanji through the thick smoke. Golden ratio took several deep breaths but didn’t speak for a long time.

“I don’t know what we are.” He admitted reluctantly “But all I know is that you’re the only person I truly trust. You’re the only person that actually knows me. So, if that’s not a friend I don’t know what a friend is.” Zoro’s throat closed in and he needed to cough- badly, but he held it, he didn’t want to break this moment. He wanted this moment to last forever. The moss head looked down and closed his eyes, he took a deep breath in and smiled, the biggest, stupidest smile he had ever pulled. This might have been the best day of his life; winning a stupid football game was nothing compared to this moment. But what a shame Sanji never witnessed how much he made him smile.

Neither of them wanted to break the silence, but reluctantly and after a long while, Zoro finally did.

“I… urrrr… I don’t have a phone.” Sanji was broken from his serene trance.

“What?”

“I mean I have a home phone but not like a mobile.”

“Oh, okay. Well tell me your house number then and I’ll keep it in case of emergencies.” Zoro squinted suspiciously. In case of emergencies? What was that supposed to mean? Sanji must have felt his confusion because he quickly elaborated. “Like if Amy decides to burn my house down.” He laughed unconvincingly.

“Hmm.” Zoro mumbled as he pulled out some paper and wrote his number down. His hands shook as he handed it to Sanji. It was a fair trade; a number for a number, but still, Zoro felt nervous. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of them being ‘friends’. What did that mean exactly?

“Thanks.” Sanji smiled and put the scrap of paper in his pocket. But something was swirling in his mind that he couldn’t let go of.  “Do you trust me?”

Zoro thought long and hard. He had always liked Sanji, practically from the moment they met… but he had never asked himself if he _trusted_ him. “I mean I trust you more than my sense of direction.” Sanji laughed, it wasn’t much; but he’d take it.


	14. Something Different

Day two.

“Oh my god. Is that Zoro?”

“He’s so hot, isn’t he?”

“We should go over and talk to him.”

“I heard he hated talking to people.”

“What are you talking about? He’ll be fine; we’ll just tell him how cool he was in the final!”

“Um… Mr Roronoa. Hi! We just wanted to tell you that you were really cool on Friday in the game.”

“Oooh, Zoro you’re _such_ a player.”

“Yeah Zoro, stop being so cool all the time.”

“Zoroooo!! You didn’t bring any food for me, today did you??”

“Luffy, get off him!”

“The moss head is a bit shy. He doesn’t like talking to strangers, I think you scared him a little. I’m sorry if he won’t talk to you.”

“Awww that’s so cute.”

“It’s okay, Mr Black, we’ll go.”

“He’s so adorable. I can’t believe he’s so shy; he looks like the complete opposite!”

“That was incredibly rude. They made all the effort to come over and give you a compliment and you totally ignored them! Stupid Plant life.”

“Yeah, well the more I ignore people the faster they’ll leave me alone.” Zoro crossed his arms over his chest and slouched in his chair.

“That’s not how it works!” Nami, Sanji and Usopp all shouted simultaneously.

“You see,” Sanji leaned in to the moss ball and cleared his throat “when you ignore people, you give them the rare opportunity to create their own story. You become mysterious; a riddle to be solved. And minutes later a hundred different rumours are spread around the school- none of which are true, by the way. And you end up with a million lies to wade through without a truth in sight.”

“So? Who cares?”

“Well that’s the thing- the more mysterious you become, the more people will become interested in you.” Zoro rolled his eyes and sank in his seat.  He looked very chill on the outside; but on the inside, he was stressed out of his mind; he didn’t know if his heart could beat any faster. He really was _not_ used to being surrounded by people. People that _liked_ him.

“Oh shoot, here she comes.” Sanji visibly stiffened and slouched in his seat; it was like his entire body resented her existence.

“Oh my gosh! Vivi, I think I left my textbook in the math classroom.” The tall girl with orange hair pulled Vivi to her feet and they glided away without another word.

“That was rude.” Zoro growled.

“Good morning handsome.” Thin hands creeped around Sanji’s shoulders.

“Goo-” the blond choked.

“Go away.” Zoro barked. “Can’t you see swirly-brows doesn’t want you around?” Amy sneered with her eyes.

“Sanji my dear, why on Earth do you let this barbarian sit with you?”

“He won the game- and he’s really not a big loser like everyone thinks.” Zoro shot his eyes to the corner of the room and tried his hardest to look uninterested; Sanji had just said that he wasn’t a loser. It meant nothing to him, but at the same time; it meant everything. He knew exactly what he was feeling in his chest; but he was too afraid to admit it to anyone, even himself.

“Fine, let’s just go to English. The bell went.” Amy pouted and took Sanji by the hand before dragging him off at a sickening speed. Zoro was left behind sitting alone at the once completely full table; when had everybody left? Nami and Vivi left right as Amy showed up; but when had Chopper, Usopp, Luffy and the others left? They left right before Amy came too. No one liked her anymore; yet she was still the talk of the school and Zoro had no idea why.

***

“Hey- did you hear the rumour that the green haired kid, Zoro, is really shy? Like he’s scared of talking to strangers! It’s so cute, isn’t it?” A girl in front of the English room squeaked.

“I bet that’s why he spends most of his time alone! He looks really lonely sometimes, I wonder if that’s why Sir Crocodile was following him around all day last week; to keep him company.” Sanji rolled his eyes – this is when the rumours begin to spread out of control. First it’s: ‘he’s shy and lonely’ next it’s: ‘he’s secluded because both his parents were killed in a car accident and he has to work 3 jobs just to be able to afford to put food on the table for his five year old sister’. What a load of garbage.

“Look! here he comes.” The girl whispered panicked, just as the door to the room swung open and everyone filled into the classroom. Sanji sat down in his usual seat and motioned Zoro to sit next to him, but before he could, Amy stole the seat and started talking to swirls.

Zoro growled under his breath and sat at the back of the room. Some people sat down next to him and made him uncomfortable.

“Hey dude- nice going in the game! I bet the chicks love you now.” A strange girl next to him giggled. “Myself- well I tried out for the team but didn’t make the cut.”

“Now everybody quiet down!” Mr Sternum sung while he drew the curtains closed and turned the lights out. The class went completely silent as they watched the projector light up the whiteboard. Mr sternum stood in front of the projector and pulled an evil grin as the light lit his face. “Today class…” he paused for dramatic effect- you could tell he lived for these things “We will be learning about poetry!” The class moaned. “Hush hush! Before you stop listening to me I want you to relax; in this lesson, you will be writing your own poems!” Mr Sternum grinned excitedly. The class groaned again and finally Zoro stopped listening.

Zoro caught glimpses here and there of rhyming and not rhyming poems and stanzas and the types of poems before everyone in the room began having conversations and Mr sternum sat at his desk in silence. Zoro had no idea what was going on.

“What are we doing?” he asked one of the strangers next to him.

“Writing a poem. It has to be done by the end or we can’t leave – and it has to be about an emotion that we pick.” Zoro stared back at the blank page of his notebook and back up to the rest of the class. Sanji was talking to Amy and the girls on the other side of him were giggling about how cute he was or something. Zoro hated it. He hated the way that anywhere Sanji went he could make friends in seconds; and he hated that he was 16 years old and he had never made a friend. He just didn’t fit in. Zoro hated Sanji for being so perfect in every way.

He began his poem:

_I hated you and you hated me._

_Because you acted so unpleasantly_

_I resented your popularity_

_Because you acted as if I was peasantry_

_You fought with me endlessly_

_Because you thought I was your enemy_

As Zoro got about halfway through his poem he realised something; he didn’t hate Sanji. He only **_half_** hated Sanji and **_half_** loved him! He finally figured it out; after all this time! He was **_jealous_** of Sanji! He was jealous of all his stupid friends and his stupid girlfriend and anyone who got to spend any time with him because Zoro didn’t have that. He never got to spend long times with Sanji talking and laughing at nothing. And Zoro wanted that so bad.

Zoro decided to change the emotion in his poem to jealousy and he poured all of his feelings into the second half of his poem.

***

Sanji couldn’t decide what to write for his poem. He couldn’t pick an emotion- there were just too many! He stared at his page and then at Amy and the girls beside him. They were all whispering to each other about emotions and rhyming and Sanji had no idea what to write.

“What are you writing about my sweet?” he inquired trying to find something that he could write about.

“Love. Want to hear it?”

“Sure.”

“I call, you pick up. The sound of your voice tears me apart. I call again. Your voice doesn’t sound the same. Who have you been talking to? Who is tearing me apart? You are. With your stupid voice. I call, you hang up. Who is with you? Who is tearing us apart? You are. With your stupid life.  I call, you don’t pick up. You tore us apart, so now I will tare you apart.”  Sanji shivered. It was scary. He imagined Amy waiting outside his window late at night with a knife in her hand chanting ‘you tore us apart’ to herself.

“What’s wrong didn’t you like it?”

“No No! It was amazing!” Sanji lied. He just needed to find something to write his poem on, he looked over and saw Zoro equally as lost for inspiration. Suddenly Sanji saw a sort of sadness and anger dash across Zoro’s face. The desperate fury in his eyes lit up and he began to write something. Sanji’s stomach flipped. His mind raced and all he could think about was every second he had spent with Zoro; no matter what they were doing. Sanji didn’t know what that emotion was called but he decided to write his poem about it.

_It’s a blood stain on a carpet floor_

_It’s a body washed up along the shore_

_It’s the endless death and destruction of war_

_It’s the immeasurable pain no one called for_

_It’s the cliché that they constantly ignore_

_It’s the shattered, heartbroken rapport_

_It’s the speeding ambulance that they never send for_

_It’s a sunset on a sandy seashore_

_It’s the ecstatic audience uproar_

_It’s the joyous end of a great war_

_It’s the feathery wings of the birds that soar_

_It’s the conflicted mind that I can’t take anymore_

_It’s the fluttery sensation that I can’t speak for_

_It’s the feeling that grows forevermore_

_It’s the beating heart that I can’t ignore_

???

It didn’t sound right to Sanji; there was something missing. A line at the end that was in the back of his mind but he just couldn’t think of. What could it be? It wasn’t important and he slammed the book closed as the bell rang.

“Ok class I expect those poems finished by next lesson and I will read them!” Mr Sternum sang out after the students who piled out the door.

Sanji planned to ask if Zoro wanted to walk home together but before he got the chance, Zoro was confronted by a group of giggling schoolgirls asking him about the football game and if he really was shy and if he had and younger siblings. Zoro was taken aback by the large group and began to stutter incomprehensible syllables before he grabbed his bag and ran off.

Sanji saw a piece of paper slip from Zoro’s pocket and raced to pick it up, but by the time he got to it he had no idea where Zoro had gone so he shoved the paper in his pocket.

“Do you want to hang out at my place?” Amy flirted a little as she grabbed Sanji’s arm.

“Um… Actually, I can’t I have to work tonight.” Sanji lied; we was still very grounded from working.

“Awwww” She whined “Okay I’ll call you later then!” She called as she walked away.

Sanji was so tired, as he walked home all he could think about was how much he wanted to nap. But as he threw his bag down in his room and loosened his tie he felt the piece of paper in his pocket. It was Zoro’s he would just give it back to him next time he saw the muscle head.

Five minutes later as he was lying in bed trying to nap he couldn’t get the paper out of his head. he had to see what was on it. He opened it; it was Zoro’s poem. He didn’t know if he should read it or not. It was personal after all. But hell, Sanji thought _in for a penny in for a pound_! And he began reading Zoro’s poem out loud to himself.

_I hated you and you hated me_

_Because you acted so unpleasantly_

_I resented your popularity_

_Because you acted as if I was peasantry_

_You fought with me endlessly_

_Because you thought I was your enemy_

Sanji’s heart skipped a beat. It was about _him!_ But it was about how much Zoro hated him! Sanji’s eyes welled up with tears and he didn’t know why. He felt a crushing weight on his chest and it was like he had lost his best friend. It was like he had lost something so important to him that he could barely build up the courage to read the rest of Zoro’s poem.

_But the truth is…_

_I treasured you and you despised me_

_Because you didn’t understand my jealousy_

_I endured your animosity_

_Because I envied your superiority_

_I loved you incessantly_

_Because I thought you were so much better than me_

 

Sanji didn’t realise he was holding his breath until he had to take a huge gasp of air. His mind stopped working… It was completely empty - well that was a lie – the truth was that there was just so many thoughts rushing through it that he couldn’t focus on any one of them for more than a millisecond. Except one. The end of his poem. The last line that he just couldn’t figure out. it was running around and around in his mind:

_It’s the strange person I think I’ve fallen for._

There was no doubt about it. This was the undeniable truth - Sanji was thinking about Zoro and wrote a fucking love poem! This was it. Definitive and absolute. Something hadn’t been quite right with Sanji for a long, long time. But this was it. This explains everything- why he hates to touch women, why he hates Amy, why he hates having a girlfriend, why he keeps getting this strange feeling he can’t explain. His slow, stupid brain finally clicked- Sanji was gay. Sanji was _gay!_ And he was only just figuring this out now. One and a half years from the end of high school.

He hit his head on his desk. He was gay and he was in love with Zoro. Goddamn it!

Sanji couldn’t take it… Was Zoro’s poem about him? Could it be? Could Zoro love him? but…Why was the poem past tense? Did Zoro love him before but not anymore? ‘ _I loved you incessantly’_ … Loved? It couldn’t be him… It had to be someone else, right? Maybe from his old school…?

Sanji mind whirled around and he felt lightheaded. This was fucking it! this explains all those weird dreams. This explains Sanji. Somehow, he felt relieved- it felt like something that was off about him for his entire life had just been solved. A great weight was lifted from his shoulders that he never knew was there.

But at the same time, he felt much, much heavier. He had even bigger problems now – like how he was going to tell his old geezer and how he was going to dump Amy and how he was going to tell Zoro how he felt.

 _Oh my god he_ thought to himself. How was he going to figure out if Zoro liked him back? What if Zoro didn’t like him? What if he asked him out and he said no? He would truly never be able to look Zoro in the eyes again. Sanji felt like he was about to throw up. But he had to know! He had to know if the poem was about him!

Sanji reached for his phone and looked up the contact that he saved as Zoro’s home number. He plugged the number in and it started ringing. Oh shit. Oh shit! What was he doing!? He couldn’t just ask if the poem was about him! If it was about him Zoro would deny it and if it wasn’t Sanji would look like an idiot. Then he would just have to tell Zoro how he felt. No no no no! It was too soon! What if Zoro was straight?! Sanji needed more time to suss everything out before he did anything. And he was dating Amy what the hell was he thinking?!?

But just as he was about to hang up he heard a click and the distinct voice of Zoro say hello on the other end.   _Oh shit oh shiT_!

“Is anyone there?” Sanji couldn’t bring himself to say anything but he also couldn’t bring himself to hang up on Zoro.

“Ahem” he cleared his throat nervously. “Yeah I was wondering if you wanted to…” Zoro’s heart nearly burst – first of all no one ever called him – second of all he was sure that he was going to ask him to hang out or something and he was so excited. “… if you wanted to come over sometime and I could help you with your maths.”

“Oh.” Zoro was slightly disappointed. But mainly he was thrilled that the blond had called him at all. “Yeah sure maybe on the weekend.”

“Great! Oh and Zoro?” The marimo perked up and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. This was the first time Sanji had used his name.

“Yes, Sanji?” The blonde’s heart pounded so loud that he swore Zoro could hear it over the phone.

“Nothing, never mind. See you tomorrow.” And with that, Sanji hung up. They both stood completely still in complete silence for a long time. Something had just happened that both of them knew but neither of them fully understood.

Something was very different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about taking so long to update chapters hopefully I'll have more time soon :)   
> Keep being dreamers!


	15. No Taking it Back

Day three.

Zoro couldn’t seem to shake off the feeling of goose bumps. He felt light headed, like the world was just a little bit tilted to the left, but he couldn’t figure out why. Today was not going to be an ordinary day. This entire week was building up to be the worst, but also the best week of his life and he had no idea how.

Zoro had noticed one thing that was better since he became popular; no one ever yelled at him for being late. The teachers seemed to give him some leeway since he played in a football game, which was pretty dumb.

“Oi” Zoro shook his head and lifted his eyes off the concrete. It was Sanji. What was he doing here? In fact, where was here?

Zoro searched the room. But there was nothing to search for. It was a tiny, empty room with nothing but concrete for the walls, floor and ceiling. Where the hell were they?

“Where are we?” Zoro squinted and rubbed his eyes.

“Does your family know you’re in love with a man?” Zoro was shocked, his mouth hung open like a nutcracker doll.

“What?”

“Does your freakshow of a family even care about you?” Zoro didn’t reply. “I hope your family leaves you to rot on the street when they find out you’re a disgusting abomination to the Earth!” The blond screeched at him. 

“You’re not the dumb swirls.” Zoro stood unwaveringly. He knew it wasn’t him, Sanji would never say anything like that. Or at least he hoped.

Suddenly Sanji’s eyes turned black and empty, and his skin grew pale. He growled, and his teeth were filed points like a dog. It was as if the Sanji that Zoro knew had died, and what was left was the empty shell with a demon living inside. It was not human.

“You will never be good enough for me and your family. No one will ever love you.” A thick black sludge oozed from its mouth as it morphed into a three-headed monster; still with Sanji’s face.

“Hey stupid head!” Zoro awoke with a start and shot up in his bed, he noticed that he had to pant to catch his breath. “What are you doing, you—" Oh god. OH GOD. “--dumb marimo bastard?!” it was Sanji; standing at the end of his bed while he was sitting there shirtless, panting and dripping with sweat.

Zoro froze. He stared directly at Sanji’s face and did not move. He forced himself to stop panting. He could barely breathe. This had to be another dream, right? A dream within a dream? That happens sometimes. Like inception. Yeah. It was definitely a dream.

Sanji couldn’t hold the gaze for long. He had walked in with the sole purpose of waking up the idiot before he was late for another day of school. But when he got there the lettuce was thrashing around in his bed soaking the sheets with sweat and muttering incomprehensibly.  He was obviously having a nightmare. But the swirls couldn’t help but stare at him, for a good minute or so he just watched. He was overcome by the urge to hold the dumb marimo. To wrap his arms around him and tell him that he was going to be okay. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. And when he finally did build up the courage to wake him up all he wanted to do was stare at his steaming, impossibly hot abs. Sanji had never seen them without his shirt on.

And can I just say, how Sanji imagined Zoro’s impossible muscle, was pale in comparison to the actual thing. He wished he could take a photograph of how Zoro looked right now. Dishevelled, sweaty, and unbearably attractive. There was no way Sanji could hide the blush that grew across his entire face. It was only yesterday that he realised he was gay, but he had already fallen for this dumb idiot.

“What are you doing here?” Zoro quickly grabbed at the closest shirt he had and threw it on. Sanji had to look away to hide his blush and disappointment in not being able to see Zoro’s body anymore.

“What do you think? I came to wake you up because you’re late! As always.”

“Shut up. You didn’t have to come into my room while I was sleeping!”

“Yeah well you should stop sleeping in, you big loser! We’re already late.” This was new. This was very new to both of them. Zoro still couldn’t tell if they were friends of if Sanji was just tolerating him. “Get ready, I’ll wait outside.”

Sanji left the room and walked out the front of the house. He couldn’t help but think about Zoro’s chest and his abs. But mainly, his face, it looked scared; terrified even. Sanji wanted to know what on earth would make a tough guy like Zoro tremble like that.

“Let’s go” Zoro pulled the gate closed and shoved his hands into his pockets as they began walking to school. Zoro was avoiding Sanji’s gaze, he was too embarrassed to look at him.

“So the swimming carnival is tomorrow, are you going?” Sanji asked nervously. He just wanted to talk about something. But he really just wanted to ask what Zoro’s dream was about.

“Oh shit. I forgot.”

“I’ve never seen you go to one before.”

“Yeah I usually just stay home, I’m not really into people watching me swim.”

“Will you come tomorrow though?” Sanji paused momentarily. “I’d like you to.” Zoro looked at him. there was something really weird going on. And he liked it. A lot.

“Okay. But this isn’t just some dumb excuse to make fun of me is it?” Zoro smirked.

“I don’t know, shitty swordsman, you’ll have to wait and see.” He grinned back. Zoro stiffened. How did he know he did kendo?

“What? How did you--” Sanji waved him off.

“I heard it from Usopp, who heard it from Nami who asked Ace how training went. I also heard that you threw Franky back 50 metres when you tackled him.” Sanji grinned.

“Pfft” Zoro rolled his eyes.

“But I know that’s not quite true, see you can never quite trust the information that comes through Usopp, he has a habit of exaggerating the truth, Nami, on the other hand, does extensive snooping and is incredibly reliable, so I know that the story is true, but the figures are off. You’ll need to know these things if you’re gonna be popular moss head – so you can know what to believe and what’s just bull.”

“You know I never wanted to be popular. Anyway, you’re gonna make me unpopular again. We have a deal.” Sanji frowned. He was beginning to hate the deal he made. For once Sanji was starting to like the fact that they were actual friends and not just teenagers picking fights with each other.  So why couldn’t he just ask him what he was dreaming about?

“You seemed kinda--” Sanji trailed off. What should he say? Scared? No that sounded dumb he couldn’t just accuse Zoro of being scared.

“What?” Zoro looked confused. Sanji knew this wasn’t going to work. He was just going to have to be blunt.

“What were you dreaming about?”

“What?” Zoro paused. “Oh, you saw that, huh?” he almost whispered. It was embarrassing, he didn’t want to say that his dream was about Sanji! What would he think?

“It was just a dumb dream. I don’t even really remember.” He lied. Sanji knew he was lying, but he didn’t think much of it. Under the same circumstances he would probably lie his ass off too.

By this time, they had reached the school and the bell had already gone. They were late. As usual. But at least Zoro hadn’t got lost this time.

“So anyway, I’ll see you in history.” Sanji lingered a little as he went to say goodbye. It was so easy for him only a few days ago, and now, he just wanted to touch Zoro; a hug, a handshake anything. But it was too late. The marimo had slipped away in Sanji’s hesitation.

***

The first class of the day dragged on. All Sanji could think about was being gay. How the hell was he going to tell the old geezer? And all his friends?! Why did he even have to tell them? Amy sat with him in French but he barely even realised she was there; he was too busy thinking. About how to dump her and hook up with a guy. This was the very definition of emotional cheating. He felt awful.

Zoro brought the wrong books to class; again. But he didn’t mind because Ms Tashigi didn’t seem to notice that he was sleeping in the back of the class. He would pay for that later, he knew it.

DING* DONG* DONG* DING*

_That was the bell. Oh no there’s still one more class before lunch._ There was a simultaneous realisation from both of the idiots. It was history. The only class Zoro and Sanji seemed to share together, free from Sanji’s hoard of ‘friends’. Suddenly, the day grew brighter for the both of them, yet neither of them were willing to admit that to each other…Idiots.

“Sit down everyone.” A tall, thin woman with long blue-black hair came out of the classroom door and ushered everyone inside. She waved a hand, and everyone followed her order like there were invisible hands pulling them to their seats.

As soon as Zoro entered the room he noticed people smoothing their hair back and ushering for him to sit next to them. Lettuce felt a lump in his throat form and avoided their gazes. _An empty spot at the back. An empty spot at the back._ He thought to himself. But as soon as he looked at the available seats, he knew where he had to sit.

Very familiar blue eyes were staring up at him from the back row. His face was drawn into the biggest grin he could muster.

“I saved you a seat you dumb marimo.” There was always something about seeing Sanji smile that made Zoro’s palpitate. The sounds of the blond’s voice when he was happy was what made coming to school worthwhile.

“Tch” Zoro smirked to himself as he sat down next to Sanji; the only two people in the back row. Just last week that simple task would have been impossible. Maybe he didn’t mind being popular after all.

“I see you found the room well enough.” Sanji sneered light-heartedly.

“Yeah well I must be in the wrong universe because you’re here.”

“You’re even stupid when you’re throwing shade, shitty swordsman.” They stared each other down for a long time. The entire class were gawking at them, but the two idiots had no idea. Finally, Sanji pulled the biggest grin he could and burst into laughter. Zoro stared at him dumfounded.

“All students and teachers we are commencing a lock down. Teachers please lock all doors and windows.” A siren blared. Students groaned; lock down drills were the worst.

“Alright class, please get under the desks.” Ms Nico called with a subtle urgency as she turned out the lights and locked the door. Zoro and Sanji just stared at each other. Zoro’s heart was pounding in his chest. The desks in the history room weren’t individual desks, you see, they were one desk per two students. In this case; the two idiots.

Sanji squeezed himself under the short desk first and curled himself up so he was holding his knees with his arms. Zoro stuck his head in.

“I’m not going to fit.” He whispered.

“Please no talking class. Mr Roronoa, hurry up and get under the desk.” Ms Nico quietly shouted as she was about to sit down under the desk in front of the room.

There was no other way. Zoro had to make himself fit. He sat down on the floor and wriggled himself under the desk. He leant his head forwards and hunched up his shoulders to be able to fit. His head was squished against the wooden desk above him. This was definitely going to make his back sore.

What he hadn’t seemed to notice, however, was that Sanji’s face was mere centimetres in front of his. And there was no possible way that Zoro could move away. Their backs were dug deep into the legs of the desk. Both of them were in an uncomfortably bearable pain, but it was impossible to move an inch without literally face planting into each other.

Zoro glared at the blond perched directly in front of his face. Sanji’s heart was travelling at the speed of light, and Zoro could see it in his smile.

“Don’t move.” Zoro whispered.

“What?” Sanji whispered back; his heart skipped too many beats to be healthy.

“There’s a piece of gum right above your head.” Zoro grinned silently and Sanji pulled the most ‘ _I’m done with you’_ expression ever. Sanji sighed, but he felt giddy. The room was spinning, and all he wanted to do was fall into Zoro’s arms. But imagine the Gossip!

There had been something different about Sanji’s eyes today. Well- the only visible one that is. It seemed like a different shade of blue. It used to be as dark and as sad as the deepest depths of the ocean. But now it was like it was as high and light as the sky, but beyond the sky; the universe itself. In Sanji’s eyes, Zoro could see the infinite infinities of the universe, the endless possible futures and pain and happiness that lies within.

Sanji could tell that Zoro was staring directly into his eye. But he didn’t say anything about it. In fact, he just stared back. Tracing the lines of his face. The furrow of his brow and the bags under his eyes.

“Sometimes I get nightmares too.” Sanji whispered barely a decibel, but Zoro heard it like it was being broadcast on every radio on the planet all at once.

“I never said—”

“You didn’t have to.” Sanji lightly placed a hand on the top of Zoro’s shoulder. It was so delicate that Zoro could barely feel it. But he knew that he never wanted it to move. It was warm and comforting. That was the moment. That Zoro knew that he didn’t just like Sanji as a fleeting crush or even just a love interest. That was when he knew; he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. However long, however short.

“You were in my dream.” He whispered as low as he was physically able. Sanji’s eyes narrowed. He was in Zoro’s nightmares? That was surely not a good sign. He reluctantly pulled his hand off the marimo’s shoulder. His breathing became heavy and a dull pain began in his chest. He dreaded the answer to his next question.

“What did I do?” Sitting under a desk, centimetres from the person of your dreams, made Zoro realise that life was fleeting. This moment was bound to end in a matter of minutes and the world would go on none the wiser. Zoro decided in that split second that he was tired of lying and pretending and he just wanted to be honest. He just wanted to be himself.

“You told me that I was an abomination to the Earth and no one will ever love me.” Sanji’s face went from concerned to horrified to confused to sad to angry in a matter of a few seconds. “Because I’m gay.” Zoro added; to make everything a little bit easier on the blond who was clearly having a hard time figuring out what the hell mossy meant.

That was it. The truth was out there. Sanji didn’t speak. He couldn’t. His mouth and his brain were frozen. He felt so much peace and relief and satisfaction. So much of his worry had left him and he sat in a daze. He just wanted to reach out and kiss the stupid idiot, but he couldn’t find the strength. He just wanted to say something. Anything; to make sure the green haired ape knew that he supported him. And not just supported him. Was with him.

“Me too—” it was useless. An announcement came over the intercom and prevented Zoro from hearing his whisper. The lock down had ended and break had begun.  Zoro crawled out from under the desk and walked away. It was too late.

But now Sanji knew. And there was no taking it back.


End file.
